Our Universe
by KoolaidShipping
Summary: We are the Crystal Gems. We'll always save the day, and if you think we can't we'll always find a way, that's why the people of this world believe in Lapis Peridot & Jasper and Steven-Right? When Steven accidentally lands himself in a universe where the Crystal Gems are replaced with Homeworld Gems, Steven must somehow get back to his Universe with the help of the 'Crystal Gems'.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** New Story! For Steven Universe! Okay here's some notes:

This Steven Universe Fic will take place _after_ **Keeping It Together** and _before_ **Chillie Tid,** because I wrote this story waaay before the newer episodes came out.

 **Rated T** because Some Gems need to watch their mouths.

"Blah Blah" - Talking

 _'Blah Blah'_ \- Thinking

[Blah Blah] - Text/Reading Text/ Text messaging

 **End A/N**

* * *

 **CH1: The Versal Stone**

"Steven, are you ready to go?" Pearl called from the Warp Pad.

"Just one second!" Steven smiled excitedly while he zipped up his pink hoodie before slipping his cell phone in his pocket. Sliding on his sandals he rushed downstairs, finding Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst waiting on the Warp Pad.

Pearl had her hands on her hips, impatiently waiting for the half-gemling to finish his preparations. Amethyst was sitting, bored on the Warp Pad while stuffing handfuls of greasy chips in her mouth. Garnet stood proudly between them with her arms crossed against her chest, patiently waiting for their youngest member.

Steven smiled at them, "Almost ready! Just one more thing!" He said as he dashed into the kitchen.

Pearl gave an annoyed sigh, "Steven, we aren't going to be there long. A snack can surely wait."

"Yeah, well tough luck for him, I ate the last of the snacks," Amethyst grinned to herself as she stuffed more of the chips in her mouth.

Steven ignored them though and quickly scurried into the kitchen. He pulled open a drawer and found exactly what he was looking for! He swiped it up and ran back to the Warp Pad.

"Okay, I'm ready!" He grinned as he stepped onto the panel with his friends.

"What's that you got there?" Amethyst mumbled with her mouth full. She swallowed the chips down and hovered over Steven, "Were you hiding food?" She grinned mischievously.

"No, it's a camera!" Steven beamed as he showed off his brand new camera to the Crystal Gems. It was shiny and compact. A perfect size to bring along with him on a mission.

Amethyst was not impressed, "Why'd you bring that busted thing?" She snorted.

"It's not busted!" Steven defended, "It's my dad's old camera, but he got it refurbished so I can take it along with me on missions!"

"Why would you want to take a camera with you on missions?" Pearl inquired.

"So I can show everyone in Beach City what cool things we encounter!" He smiled. He stuffed the camera in his pocket, "Plus, Connie wanted to see how my mission goes today, so I'll show her via camera." He grinned, showing off his enthusiasm.

Steven's smiled was contagious, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Steven." Pearl beamed.

"Are you all ready?" Garnet finally spoke.

"Yep!" Steven replied, as Pearl and Amethyst silently nodded.

In a flash, the gems were surrounded by a casing of light, and then suddenly they were floating in the Warp Pad.

" _Sooo_ ," Steven started, "What are we supposed to be doing today?" He questioned, excited about anything that would happen on their mission.

"We have to obtain the Versal Stone, and safely bubble it back to the temple." Garnet confirmed.

Wide eyed and extremely curious, "What's a Versal Stone?" Steven asked. Just as he asked, the four gems were transported to a new atmosphere. The sky had hues of pink and light blue, accompanied by fluffy green clouds and there was a plethora of what seemed like colorful rocks across the horizon.

"Woooow!" Steven slowly said as he eyed his surroundings in wonder, "This place is so pretty!"

Amethyst groaned at the atmosphere, "This is gonna take forever! How do we know what the actual Versal Stone looks like?"

"You'll know it when you find it." Garnet responded, earning another groan from Amethyst.

Steven jumped off the Warp Pad and began to explore the colorful stones around him. There were all shades of red, blue, green and so on. It was like he was in a field of rainbow stones. Steven then, immediately paused, grimacing, "Wait..." He looked around, and then back at the Crystal Gems, "A-Are these...other gems?" He asked, frightened.

Pearl was the first to intervene, "Oh, no Steven, of course not!" She assured and placed a calm hand on Steven's shoulder, "These are stones, not gems. Stones aren't lifeforms like us." She corrected.

Amethyst walked towards them with her hands folded behind her head, "Stones are just rocks." She imputed her own definition.

Steven looked around at the stones again, unsure, "How can you tell the difference between a stone and a gem?"

Pearl cleared her throat and gave an all knowing smile, ready to give Steven one of her daily gem lessons, "Well, Steven, a stone–"

" _Rock_." Amethyst cut in.

Pearl flashed an annoyed look but continued, "A stone lacks what a gem haves. A gem for example are almost always translucent or transparent minerals that has a hardness of high numbers, while a stone–"

"Rock!"

"– does not. Stones are common minerals found everyday like granite or salt." Pearl smiled.

Garnet walked up to the gems, "Stones do not share an embodiment of light like we do, however, some stones emit powerful spurts of energy that is beyond our control."

" _Liiike_...the Versal Stone?" Steven inquired. Garnet gave a silent nod.

"So, what powers can the Versal Stone do?" Steven asked again.

"No one knows for sure," Pearl said in seriousness. A hologram of ancient, alien words beamed through her gem for display, "Ancient readings say that the Versal Stone holds incredible amounts of power, and only a few gems encountered it..." She paused.

"What happened to the gems who encountered it?" He asked cautiously.

"They all melted, including their gems!" Amethyst teased in her 'spookiest' voice, trying to scare Steven. She failed scaring Steven but she earned a terrified gasp from Pearl instead and Amethyst gave out a gruff laugh.

"A-Amethyst! That is _not_ funny!" She chastised her, her hands furiously on her hips.

"It's just a joke, P," Amethyst said between laughs, "Relax–"

"How can I relax when you're trying to scare Steven like that!" Pearl fumed.

Amethyst laughter ceased and her expression became annoyed, "You're the one acting all scared! It was just a _joke_!"

"Well if your jokes were actually humorous then maybe–"

"That's enough," Garnet cut in. Garnet always had a low tolerance of bickering, especially between Pearl and Amethyst. This time was no exception.

With incredible ease, Garnet hoisted up Amethyst with one hand. Garnet, with enough strength, threw Amethyst towards one side of the area of stones, earning an "oomph" from Amethyst crashing into a pile of colorful stones.

Garnet turned to Pearl, and placed her hands on her hips, as if daring Pearl to keep up her mindless bickering with Amethyst. When Pearl said nothing in response, Garnet spoke again, "Amethyst will search east. Pearl, You will search west. Steven and I, will search north. We meet back at the Warp Pad within an hour. If you hear a sound of distress from one of us, rush to that person's aid immediately." Garnet confirmed loud enough for Amethyst to hear too.

"Hn. Okay. I'll see you within an hour then." Pearl agreed and began walking to her assigned direction.

Garnet also started walking in her confirmed direction, calmly saying, "Come on, Steven."

Steven quickly followed her in suit. Once he knew they were out of earshot from the other gems he began, "Wow, Garnet. You're really good at being the leader!" He grinned ear to ear, "You told them what to do and they did it immediately!"

Garnet glanced down at him and gave a small smile, "Being a good leader is more than just barking out orders. It's about keeping the harmony between your team mates." She said.

"Hm.." Steven hummed to himself thoughtfully. He wondered how Garnet became such a good leader. Did she get instructions to be one from Homeworld, or did she follow in suit after his mother? Or, was she born with such leadership skills? If so, he wondered who had the leadership skills, Ruby or Sapphire?

Thinking about the two smaller gems, Steven looked up to the stoic looking Garnet and asked, "Hey...if you have future vision, doesn't that mean that you know the possible outcome of who will find the Versal Stone, first?"

Steven wasn't exactly sure if he was right about that sort of thing. It seemed like every time he asked Garnet about her mysterious future vision, she would always correct him about his theories about it. Yes, he had been under the power of the future vision before, but when he did have the power, he was always confused and unsure of what or how it happened. Luckily for him, he earned another smile from the tall gem, "Yes, you're right."

Another grin crept across his face, more than happy that he was finally understanding how Garnet's future vision was working. However, Steven's face contorted into a confused frown, "Wait, if you know who's going to find it first, why did you want us to split up?"

"In my visions, I see you and myself finding the Versal Stone if we headed north, and it won't take us very long," She said with a small smile, "I chose to split Pearl and Amethyst up because they would continue arguing if I brought them along with us."

Steven's eyes went wide, staring at her in awe and what seemed like tiny stars i his eyes, "You're keeping the _harmony_!" He giggled.

Garnet nodded in agreement, "That's right. Plus, I also saw you taking nice pictures." She added.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Steven gasped, digging in his jacket pocket, finding his camera, "What should I take a picture of first?" He pondered, looking around the large piles of stones.

"That one looks pretty." Garnet said, pointing to a green and silver stone.

Steven hurried is little legs over to the stone and smiled at it. It was indeed pretty. It was dark green with streaks of silver etched into it. If he had to say so, the stone reminded him of Malachite. A better version of Malachite, opposed to the one that was filled with inner turmoil. Steven decided to snap a picture of it for his own symbolic memory of Malachite.

Steven looked around and saw another stone that grabbed his attention and he ran over to that one. It was a beautiful baby blue stone with swirls of pink inside. Steven loved it. He snapped a couple of photos of that one, reminding himself that it was his favorite so far.

Fifteen minutes later, Steven had taken a picture if nearly every pretty stone that he has found so far. After taking pictures of pretty stones, Steven began taking pictures of the beautiful sky above him. Pinks and light blues streaking the sky with abnormal fluffy lime green clouds. Asking why those colors in the sky even existed, Garnet explained that energy released from some stones is responsible for the colorful sky.

Whatever the case may be, Steven snapped his camera away at the horizon. Once he had his fill, the duo continued the search for the mysterious Versal Stone. Steven asked Garnet what the actual stone looked like, she would only say, "You'll know it when you see it."

Steven came across a giant stone that was about the same height as Opal. It was indigo and had splotches of yellow and burgundy around it. Steven gasped and ran up to it and inspected the colors, "Is this the Versal Stone?" He wondered aloud, snapping a photo of the stone in the process.

Garnet walked up to it as well, scanning the stone, "No. But in my vision, I saw this stone, right before one of us discovered the Versal Stone. Which means, it may be close by."

Steven wasn't really sure how he was going to know what the Versal Stone was going to look like when he found it. All the stones had different colors, shapes and sizes, so how in the world is the Versal Stone going to stand out from the rest?

Steven sighed and started to search again, while taking pictures absentmindedly when he heard Garnet say, "I'm going to look over here. You should search over there" She pointed in the direction where Steven was facing, "If you do find the Versal Stone, don't touch it. Just call me over and I'll come and bubble it." She said and before Steven nodded, Garnet was already walking the opposite direction.

Steven sighed again, feeling a little discouraged. They've been searching a little over 30 minutes, and still found no signs of the Versal Stone, that he wasn't even sure what it looked like.

Steven walked over piles of stones, taking more pictures along the way. He wandered a little ways, away from Garnet's location and continued to take a few more pictures, "I think...that's enough." Steven mumbled to himself, putting his camera back into is jacket pocket. Steven was a little disappointed at the fact that nothing exciting happened on his mission today. Usually, he and the Crystal Gems would run into a monster gem and would do some serious "butt kickin'". If that were to happen, Steven would've taken thousands of pictures of the fight his friends would ensue. This mission, however, was anything but that type of mission. Steven couldn't help but sigh at the umpteenth time, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

Then, Steven's disappointed face, turned into a determined one, in a split second. This mission wasn't about him capturing great photos. It was about finding the Versal Stone and safely bubble it back into the Temple in one piece.

"Hn! Let's find that Versal Stone!" Steven said to himself, triumphantly.

As soon as those words escaped his lips, Steven heard a faint whisper nearby. Steven froze and looked behind him, seeing Garnet's figure a little ways away from him. She had her back facing him and she didn't seem like she was talking.

So, where did that whisper come from?

Steven arched a confused brow, looking forward. He scanned the area, seeing no one was there. He must have been hearing things.

"Meh, probably nothing," Steven shrugged it off and continued his search, until he heard the faint whisper again.

Steven froze in place again.

Okay, that time he definitely heard something.

Steven scanned the area again, and carefully began to step over stones, "Uh..hello?" He softly called out, not sure if he wanted a response or not.

Then he heard a whisper saying "...hello..?"The voice definitely sounded familiar. It wasn't menacing or scary. It sounded distant and unsure.

"Who's there?" Steven said, walking around, trying to locate the voice. It seemed like he was getting closer because the voice got a little louder and clearer, asking,"Where are you?"

Following his ears, Steven tracked the voice and said, "I can't see you." Determined to find the voice, Steven searched high and low for the person who was obviously looking for him. And for a good five minutes, Steven found nothing. Steven sat down next to a stone about the same height as Pearl and leaned up against it.

He could have sworn that he heard a voice, but he hadn't seen one person in the sea of stones that surrounded him.

"...I thought I heard...meh, it's probably nothing.." Steven concluded, staring up at the sky. The silence stretched on until he heard as clear as day, a person said "Hello? Who's there?"

Steven jumped, surprised and now very alert. Steven darted his eyes around, to find no one in sight. Steven was absolutely sure now, that someone was communicating with him. The voice sounded like it was sitting right next to him! Steven cleared his throat, "W-Who's there?"

An immediate response,"I'm _here_!"

Steven searched again. The voice was in his space, so that meant one of three things. Either, there was a tiny person the same size as the stones, a ghost following him, or Steven was going crazy, hearing voices in his head. Steven concluded that the second option was the most liable. There must be a tiny person among the stones that was nearly impossible to see. Steven got down on all fours and searched for a tiny person.

"I can't see you. What do you look like?" Steven curiously inquired.

"I'm right here! Look to your left." The voice said.

As told, Steven looked to his left and found nothing.

"Oops! Your other left!" The voice laughed at itself.

Steven chuckled and looked to his right and found a stone about the size of his hand. What was off about this stone, was that it was glowing, and let out little sparkles of light. Steven carefully crawled a little closer to the stone and looked at it carefully. Steven gasped, surprised at what he saw what was inside the stone.

It was him!

A little blurry reflection of himself.

"What! Who are...are you _me_?" Steven asked the stone.

Stone Steven cocked his head to the side and said, "I was gonna ask you the same question!"

Steven blinked at the other Steven, "So, you're not a magical mirror stone?" Steven concluded, thinking about the other time when he saw himself as a reflection. It turned out it was Lapis Lazuli trying to communicate with him.

"No. My name is Steven. Steven Universe!" The Stone Steven revealed. He obviously had a mind of his own.

Steven laughed, "Well my name is Steven Universe too!"

"I would think so, considering how handsome you are," the other Steven smirked.

"Hm, great minds think alike," Steven concluded, making both Stevens laugh at their own jokes.

The Steven in the stone laughed, "Wow! I have to show Lapis the other me! She'll be so surprised!"

Steven froze.

What? Lapis? As in Lapis Lazuli?

How was that possible? She was at the bottom of the ocean as Malachite!

"Wait! What do you mean, show Lapis? Are you with her?" Steven frantically asked.

Unfortunately, the other Steven ignored his questions and said, "I'll go get her. I'll be right back!" Then turned his back away from Steven, and began walking away.

"Wait! Come back!" Steven yelled at the stone. In desperation, he picked up the stone, hoping that the other him would hear him.

Suddenly a flash of light was clasped onto Steven's hand and the stone. The light was blinding, not to mention it was burning Steven's skin!

"Ah! Ow! Get off!" Cried out loud. Steve tried shaking the stone off his hand but it was secured tightly on his palm. The strong encasing of light slowly but surely crawled up his hand, and was now on his forearm. The contact with the light hurt. It felt like it was burning each part of his skin.

"Augh! Ah! _Help_!" Steven screamed, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. Steven fell onto his back and continued to scream in agonizing pain.

Less than a minute later, Steven felt cooling hands against is face. Unsure when he closed them, Steven opened his eyes and saw the hands belonged to Garnet while Amethyst and Pearl towering over him protectively.

"What is that, thing!" Pearl gasped at the light that was moving up Steven's arm.

"The Versal Stone. He must have touched it." Garnet growled out.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Amethyst screeched, unsure of the situation.

"G-Garnet! It _hurts_!" Steven yelled out, tears rolling down his face. He had never experienced pain like this before. It was slow and burning. Like his arm was ripping apart.

"Steven, don't worry! We'll figure it out!" Amethyst declared. She went over to his arm and tried to yank at the bright light. As soon as she touched it, however, her hands were scorched away. She fell on her back, holding her hands in pain, " _Augh_! What the hell!?" She cried.

Garnet and Pearl looked at Amethyst in shock. Was the light that powerful and hot? If Amethyst couldn't endure it from simply touching it, how could Steven even be alive from it being wrapped around his arm.

The light was inching up above his elbow now, and Steven was gasping and shuddering in pain; crying against Garnet's hand that was pressed softly against his face. Garnet thought for a moment of what to do next. If touching the light wasn't an option, then the only thing they could do was separate the light from Steven himself.

"Pearl, draw your spear!" Garnet demanded.

Pearl looked at Garnet, confused at why she would ask for such a thing. Then suddenly, Pearl's eyes went wide, and horror etched across her face, "N-no! We can't do _that_!"

"It wasn't a question–" Garnet growled.

"No! How could you think of doing that! I could never harm Steven like that!" She protested, tears brimming her eyelids.

"Pearl! The light is devouring Steven each second! We're running out of time! It's either a dead Steven or an armless Steven!" Garnet concluded.

"I– I can't do it!" Pearl shuddered, not sure if she could handle the pressure. Steven was in heart wrenching pain, crying his eyes out, and now Garnet was asking her to amputate his arm.

She couldn't do it.

"Pearl, I know you're scared for him. But you have to be strong for him! Steven needs your help, and you're the only one who can. Do it for him! Do it for _Rose_!" Garnet said.

As soon as the name 'Rose' was mentioned, Pearl's scared and confused demeanor, turned into a determined one. She would do anything for Rose including saving her own son. The son who Pearl had grown to love and thought of him as her own.

Pearl took in a deep shaky breath, "Okay, stand back." She ordered Garnet. Garnet moved away from Steven and stood back as Pearl summoned her spear.

Pearl stood by his light induced arm and focused on the area she needed to cut. She glanced at Steven's face, who was still crying and yelping in pain.

 _'I'm doing this for you, Steven,'_ she thought to herself. Pearl took another deep breath to focus, then swiftly brought down her spear to where she needed to cut.

Instead of a limb being removed, Pearl's spear had completely disintegrated on contact.

"What in the world!" She gasped. She cut exactly where Steven's skin met with the light surrounding is arm. She summoned another spear and tried again with no avail. She tried a third time, and again, her spear disintegrated as soon and the tip of the spear touched Steven.

"I-I don't understand! It won't cut!" She cried. The light had reached up to Steven's shoulder now.

Garnet huffed in frustration, "Let me try something." She said, marching over to Steven's left arm. She summoned her gauntlets, preparing herself what she was going do next.

This way of amputation was more barbaric than Pearl's way, but seeing how Pearl's spear wasn't working, Garnet had to take matters in her own hands. Literally.

Garnet kneeled next to Steven, who was being tortured by pain each antagonizing second , she whispered, "This might hurt Steven, but, be strong for me, okay?"

She didn't wait for a response and she held his body down with her right hand and pulled his infected arm with her left, tugging with all her might.

Garnet would never admit it but the light hurt so much that she would have given up and let go. But her determination didn't let her. She pulled with so much strength that she could've ripped a horse's leg off, however, Steven's arm remained in its place.

Garnet pulled and pulled until, the light burned through her gauntlet, and onto her gem.

" _Augh!_ " Garnet yelled in pain and fell backwards. She cradled her left hand and saw that her gem had a small split in it.

"Garnet! Are you okay?" Pearl ran over to her. It wasn't everyday that Garnet get hurt.

"I'm fine." She said, balling up a fist as she walked over to Steven, hoping to hide her gem injury, "Get Amethyst," she ordered Pearl.

Pearl hesitated for a moment, but went to Amethyst who was still on the ground, trying to soothe her charred hands. Pearl brought Amethyst over to Steven and Garnet ordered another way to amputate Steven's arm.

Amethyst lassoed her whip around Steven's arm while she, Pearl, and Garnet pulled with all their might, only to fail and have Amethyst's whip to disintegrate.

"Why aren't our weapons working!?" Amethyst flailed.

"The Versal Stone is beyond our control– we can't fight it!" Pearl concluded.

"So what about Steven?! We can't just let him–" Amethyst cried.

"Nothing, is going to happen to him!" Garnet cut her off, "Steven will survive this."

Pearl hesitated for a moment, "But how? Our weapons are useless!"

"There's one more thing we can do," said Garnet, "Before the light reaches his gem, we could bubble him."

Amethyst and Pearl looked at each other before Amethyst asked, "You mean like...bubble his gem back to the temple?"

"I don't even think we can bubble him separately from his gem. He can't regenerate yet!" She added.

"We'll just have to try!" Garnet barked at them.

"B-but—"Pearl tried.

"If you're not going to help, then you can just leave," Garnet challenged.

Pearl froze in her place, dumbfounded. She would never leave Steven's side, especially when his life is in danger. Leaving Steven was the same as leaving Rose alone on the battlefield.

It wasn't in her nature to do it.

Determination flashed across Pearl's face, "I'm not going anywhere," she concluded. She knelt beside Steven, who's chest and cheek was enveloped in light, rapidly covering his body.

Soon, Amethyst knelt beside Steven's body too. With all seriousness she said, "I'm here to stay too."

Garnet gave a curt and proud nod to her teammates and said, "For, Steven."

"For, Steven" Both Amethyst and Pearl conceded.

In unison, the Crystal Gem's, gems began to glow, ready for their sync. All three hovered their left hand above Steven's gem, and they slowly made a small bubble, surrounding the rose quartz. The strong bubble swirling with purple, burgundy, and light blue, securely surrounding Steven's gem. This type of bubble was made for absolute emergencies, like when a foe gemling is too powerful to be bubbled on its own, multiple gems bubble it together. However, this technique was never used to secure a gem while it was still on its person.

As their left hands stayed hovered, Pearl's eyes wandered over to Garnet's split gem and gasped, "Garnet, your gem–!"

"Don't worry about it." She brushed off. They had much bigger concerns than a split on her gem. Steven's upper chest, and now lower abdomen was surrounded by light. The only thing that was heard was Steven's jagged breath, hyperventilating from the pain over taking his body. He was sweating horribly, and his tears were rolling off his face and onto the ground.

Garnet placed her cool hand on Steven's forehead, as she whispered sweet encouraging words to him. Steven opened up a watery eye to look at his mother-like gem, and managed to get out, "G-Gar-net...m–m _so–ooory!_ "he cried.

"Shh. Don't apologize. It's not your fault, love." She cooed, wiping the tears from his cheek.

Pearl cupped Steven's other cheek, carefully avoiding the bright light inching up his face, "We're right here with you Steven." She said with a sad smile.

Amethyst took Steven by his untouched hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, "We'll be by your side."

The light was covering his right elbow now, and down his stomach. When it finally reached to the bubble, thankfully it went around it and continued down his lower half. This would be considered a good thing if the uncertainty wasn't thick in the air. There's no telling what could happen next.

At this point, the only pain that Steven could feel is where the new territory the light was touching. Steven's left arm that was stuck against the Versal Stone, felt numb. He couldn't feel his arm at all. It was like his arm, and everywhere else the light touched disappeared.

Steven didn't know if he was going to make it out alive. The pain and the numbness is surely what death must have felt like. He felt cold, although, his lower body felt like he was on fire. His voice was hoarse from crying out in pain, and his eyes and nose were puffy from his pain giving tears.

If this is how he was going to die, he knew he had a few precious moments with the Crystal Gems.

His friends. His _family_.

Steven gasped out some air before letting out his feelings, "I-Im _so–so–oory_ guauhh—!" He yelped in pain as a wave of light passed his groin. He took a deep breath and continued, "I–I l-love you–you guys. Y-you're th-the best...friends—fami- _family_ I could a-ask f-f-for–"

The light covered his right arm, forcing Amethyst to let go.

"Don't talk like that! You'll be fine..." Amethyst tried, "You'll be back to your old self in no time, you'll see." Now, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

The light passed his thighs now.

"T-tell...m-m-my dad–I lo-aah-ve him," he blubbered out, "A-and C–Con-Connie t-too."

Tears burned at Pearl's eyes too. What if this didn't work? What if she had to tell Greg that Steven was gone. And she—the Crystal Gems— failed to protect him with their own lives.

"Steven, you're going to be fine, everything will be fine–"Pearl choked on her own tears.

Garnet on the other hand was silent. He expression unreadable, especially behind her shades.

Amethyst and Pearl continued to encourage Steven, telling him that everything was fine and he would regenerate later. Steven, though, wasn't so sure about the outcome. His body now felt cold, and now he sourly regret not listening to Garnet's advice about not touching the Versal Stone. He should've known a stone with the ability to project a blurry and talking version of himself was suspicious to say the least.

The light covered his feet, and the bit of light on top covered his ears.

Suddenly, Steven felt wet drops on his forehead. He pried his eyes back open to find a trail of tears leaving Garnet's face. Her shades were off and he could see the three swirl of eye colors, each having tears in them. Her mouth was agape and her lips were trembling. The mumbled something so low that Steven couldn't hear, but he did hear Amethyst suddenly roar, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU CAN'T ' _SEE_ ' HIM?!"

"I-I can't see him in my visions–!" Garnet choked out, "He doesn't exist!" She cried. Suddenly, Garnet's body began to glow, threatening to unfuse.

"Garnet! Keep it together!" Amethyst barked out.

"Don't unfuse! If you do, we can't keep Steven bubbled!" Pearl cried. But their words failed to reach her. Garnet began to glow more and slightly unraveled into two splits of herself.

Steven tried to call her name, but the light surrounding Steven went past his mouth and around his left eye. Above his head, the light covered all his hair and forehead. It burned.

Garnet struggled to keep herself intact, but her visions of not seeing Steven existing made her emotionally unbalanced. Her left hand where she kept her part of the bubble complete, began to wobble uncontrollably.

"Garnet! No!" Pearl cried out.

"Garnet! The bubble is gonna pop if you unfuse!"Amethyst wailed.

It was too late. The light surrounding Garnet suddenly stopped and it separated into Ruby and Sapphire. In the process, the bubble around Steven's gem popped and the light immediately devoured the rose quartz whole.

Steven screamed in pain, but his voice was muffled. The only thing that the light didn't surround was his right eye.

Steven couldn't hear what was going on, but what he did see was, Sapphire and Pearl crying above him, while Amethyst and Ruby seemed to be bickering with one another.

Sapphire suddenly turned to the two fighting gems and said something to grab their attention. Whatever it was that she said, it made Amethyst and Ruby stop their fight and immediately hovered over Steven in bitter concern.

Steven's vision slowly started to fade, and the last thing he saw was the Crystal Gems – his _family_ – all crying above him.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope you enjoyed that! Find out what happens to Steven on the next episo- err I mean _chapter!_

Please _Review_ and share to me what you liked about it! I really want to know what you thought about it! More reviews help me write better and faster! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : Here's Ch 2! I'm so glad that you all enjoyed the story so far~! That makes me extremely happy! I'm trying to (hopefully) put out a new chapter every week or so, because the way this story is heading (Which I have sort've planned out), is going to be a long one, so please bear with me.

 **Replies:**

 **20Last-Sparkle01** \- I'm sorry I made you suffer! I tried my best to make the story interesting !

 **twiggy** \- Thank you! I'm so glad you like it! :0

 **Kanasty** \- I'm sorry for emotionally wrecking your brain! (but that's what I was aiming for~ mwahaha)

 **Shiranai Atsune** \- Hmm maybeee~ I guess you'll just have to wait and see (or just read below)

 **Gil saucedo** \- Thank you! I hope you can bar with me on a lot of chapters!

 **Lady of the Sky** \- Hm I guess it is a good thing to not 'poof', but slowly being swallowed by light is somewhat better, right? And thanks for my stone naming! took me a while to come up with that one!

Okay please enjoy CH 2!

 **END A/N:**

* * *

 **CH2: We Are the Crystal Gems**

 _Warmth_.

Warmth was all he felt.

Both from the sun cascading on his face and the feel of something fuzzy wrapped around his body.

Steven slowly but surely started to wake. First his ears adjusted to what noises were happening around him. He heard the soft noises of the ocean, calmly washing up the sandy shore. He heard seagulls squawk happily to one another, while some squawked angrily at something they didn't find so appealing.

Next, Steven's nose woke. The smell of the beach was immediately present, not to mention the scent of his laundry detergent staining the soft material his body was wrapped around.

Finally, Steven slowly fluttered his eyes open, squinting at the attacking light from the merciless sun. His eyes slowly adjusted to the familiar surrounding of his bedroom.

Steven was wrapped securely in a cozy blanket, like a cocoon, on his bed. His bay window was opened, letting the sounds and smell of the nice ocean breeze to settle in.

He was home.

He was _safe_.

 _'I'm...home?'_ Steven thought. Looking at no where in particular, Steven tried to remember something– _anything_ \- prior from apparently going to sleep in his room.

All he last remembered was being in pain. Intense _pain_ and _numbness_. He felt like he was dying. The last thing he saw was Sapphire, Pearl, Amethyst and Ruby, towering above him, and crying.

This was all because he touched and somehow activated the Versal Stone.

Steven squinted around in confusion, _'It felt so real. I remember it hurt so much...could it...all have been a dream?'_

Steven couldn't rule out that possibility, seeming that weeks ago, his dreams seem to have heightened his senses, including his gem powers. He learned that he could telepathically communicate with others in his dreams, so the possibility of dreaming up his own near death experience was entirely plausible.

 _'I wonder where they are...'_ Steven pondered about the Crystal Gems. When he last saw them, they all seemed very concerned about his well being. They last hovered over his limp body, crying their eyes out for him, but now, they are no where in sight. You would think that at least one of them (at least Pearl) would be sitting next to him as he woke up from his traumatizing experience.

 _'Hm, that's kinda selfish of me...they have lives to live too, they can't just sit here and watch me sleep...'_ Steven concluded. The Crystal Gems had their own rooms to occupy, other than his. Not to mention their duty they have to protect the Earth. They might have went on a mission while he slept.

On top of that, Steven wasn't even sure if what he had 'experienced' was real or not. It could have been a dream and now he's just waking up from the previous night.

Suddenly, Steven's stomach made a a gurgling noise, signaling it was time for him to eat. _'Hm, I guess it's that time of day again,'_ Steven smiled. He untangled himself out of the ferocious blanket he was securely wrapped around and got up.

Well, he tried to get up.

His body felt worse than that time he exercised way too much when he tried to be strong like Sugilite. His body ached in every place imaginable. From his face all the way to his toes, he felt incredibly sore.

"Ow..." Steven croaked out, flopping back down on his bed.

 _Croaked_?

His throat was raspy and dry. Like he hasn't drank anything in a month. It felt as if he had a sore throat.

"I hope I didn't catch a cold..." Steven groaned. That was the only explanation for his sore body and throat. Last night, he must have foolishly left his window open. It was so cold later on that night, he must have tucked himself in a secure position in his blanket. Steven sighed. Pearl had always warned him about leaving the window open.

'Humans have frail bodies and a weak immune system, you must always take care of yourself,' her voiced echoed in his mind. Now was the time that Steven should've listened to her, instead of shrugging it off haphazardly.

Steven's stomach growled unappreciatively, and he once again sighed. Using all of his muscle power, Steven managed to get up and onto his feet. Steven groggily made his way down his stairs and into the kitchen. He opened the freezer and found waffles and plopped it in the toaster.

Steven then opened the refrigerator, hoping to add some fresh strawberries on top of his waffles. Scanning the fridge, Steven came across some foreign objects. There was a large jug of protein milk and some protein powder next to it.

Steven rose a brow and examined the milk. This type of milk has never been in the fridge before, so why was it here now? Pearl normally did all the grocery shopping, and knew the type of meals that Steven liked, and protein milk was never on that shopping list.

 _'Maybe...Amethyst brought this home?'_ Steven concluded. Amethyst still sometimes did her late night wrestling routine, so maybe she thought drinking protein milk would make her feel stronger.

Steven shrugged it off and continued to search for his strawberries. It seemed like they were out of strawberries, which was a huge bummer on Steven's part. Steven closed the fridge door and sat on the floor, feeling rather disappointed, not to mention he felt terrible. His body ached, and it felt like he had a massive and splitting headache that was going to split his head open.

Steven sighed again and rested his elbow on his knee as he cradled his cheek in his palm. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. Maybe he would ask Pearl to make some tea for him later to nurse his cold. Mm...he could taste it now. Some nice hot tea to make him feel warm and snugly. It would feel like cool robotic fingers crawling up his leg.

Wait. _Cool robotic fingers_?

Steven's eyes shot open and saw a round robonoid trying to climb up his pants leg. The robonoid looked like one of the many that belonged to Peridot. He and the Crystal Gems did take quite a few home, but none were actually activated. Steven gasped and wiggled his leg until the robonoid rolled off. It wiggled and squirmed, trying to regain its composure.

How was it working? Did Peridot secretly activate it somehow, without any of their knowledge?

The robonoid got back onto its feet and began crawling back over to Steven and started climbing back up his pants leg again.

"Auh...uh... What do you want?" Steven asked hesitantly, as if the robonoid can answer him. The robonoid didn't respond, but continually tried to climb all over Steven. It tried to pounce on Steven's face but Steven plucked it from mid-air and sat it back down on the floor, "No jumping." Steven chastised, however, the robonoid tried again to scramble on top of Steven. Steven sighed again, but then he heard the Crystal Gate open up. Good, maybe one of the Gems could help him with this pesky robonoid situation.

Before Steven could greet whomever walked through the gate, Steven heard some foreign, but somewhat familiar voices murmuring to each other. Confused and a bit frightened by the intruding voices in his home. He stayed put in his location behind the kitchen counter. It was here that you couldn't see him from the Crystal Gate, keeping Steven hidden.

First he heard heavy footsteps, followed by a gruff voice, "–and what would that help us do?" It asked.

Next, a nasally type voice answered the gruff voice, "Well, if we wake Steven and analyze him, I can conduct a proper check up on his vitals." The voice said in a matter of fact tone. Steven's eyes widened. Whoever these intruders were, they knew his name. However, that wasn't surprising, considering the fact that both of these voice seemed very familiar. Their names were on the tip of his tongue.

"Why didn't you do it when we first took him home?" Gruff voice asked, irritated.

"Because," The nasally voice snapped, "Lazuli urged us to leave him be and let him rest."

Steven's heart was racing so fast that he clenched the part of his shirt where his heart would be. Lazuli, as in _Lapis Lazuli_ , urged these intruders to let him sleep? How was this possible? She was at the bottom of the ocean, fused with Jasper, as Malachite. How was she aware of him being home, and getting some rest?

Scratch all that. Before we question about Lapis' position, the real question was: Who was in his house and how did they get in? They activated the Crystal Gate somehow, and casually strolled in like it was their own home. Not to mention, Steven was confused as to where the Crystal Gems were. Where was Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst? Were they out on a mission? Hurt? Bubbled? Kidnapped? Were they aware of the intruders in their home?

All these questions raced through Steven's head and he clenched a lock of his hair in pain as his headache got worse. He was worried, frightened, and overall confused on what he should do in this situation.

"Hmph, well he's awake now, because he's not in his bed." the gruff voice replied half-heartedly.

"What!?" the nasally voice shrieked. Steven heard robotic movements walk around the living room and climb up his steps, "W-where has he gone?!"

Heavy footsteps walked to the center of the living room, then the gruff voice responded, "Who knows. Maybe he went to the hospital to get his _vitals checked_." Steven unwillingly cracked an amused smile. He could practically feel the sarcasm dripping off the gruff voice's response.

"Jasper! That's not funny! He could be _anywhere_! He needs a proper check up before he leaves the temple!" The nasally voice snapped.

Steven's smile suddenly disappeared and his heart dropped down into is stomach. His eyes widened in fear and he broke out into a cold sweat.

Jasper, the evil Homeworld gem that threatened him, his home, and his family? The same gem that made Garnet unfuse and head-butt him in the face? The gem that fused with Lapis and was imprisoned at the bottom of the ocean? That same Jasper, that was currently in his home?!

Steven tried to gulp, but his mouth was so dry, he couldn't manage it. Steven felt the robonoid climb up his pants leg again, but this time, Steven ignored it. He was too petrified by his predicament to make any action.

"Relax. What's the worst that can happen to the runt? He's probably down by the beach." Jasper sighed.

Steven heard a digital noise come from the living room, "Negative. My flask robonoid detectors have just confirmed that Steven is still in the temple." The nasally voice corrected. Their flask robonoids? That must mean that the nasally voice belonged to Peridot.

Somehow, Steven's throat became even dryer. Not one, but, two Homeworld gems were occupying his living-room. Two of which that threatened his and the Crystal Gem's lives before.

Steven looked down at the flask robonoid that was currently trying to balance itself on his knee. Was this robonoid giving Peridot his location? If so, they couldn't pinpoint his exact location, because they would've already known he was in the kitchen by now. Whatever the case may be, he needed an escape plan, and fast. But, maybe they would go back into the Crystal Gate to check the different rooms first, since they couldn't see him in the main room. If they left, Steven could slip out of the temple without them noticing. He just needed to be quiet and stay hidden.

However, that was easier said than done.

Suddenly, the loudest, but somehow soft _'pop'_ noise came from the kitchen. Steven's eyes widened at the noise, and realized it was his waffles that happily popped out of the toaster. This was probably the first time that Steven hated waffles, especially given the awful timing it had. Steven prayed to his mother, that Jasper or Peridot didn't hear the toaster, and hoped that one of them didn't go and investigate.

First, there was a moment of silence. The next noise, however, was slow, heavy, footsteps coming towards the kitchen.

 _'Oh no,'_ Steven eyes widened. Jasper was coming. Steven needed to retreat. But how? He was going to be cornered once she reached the kitchen.

The heavy footsteps came to a stop. Steven looked ahead and saw a pair of reddish brown boots, following a pair of reddish pants, and finally a black tank top with a reddish-orange star design on the left side of her body. Jasper's thick off-beige hair cascaded wildly down he shoulders and her back and she stood akimbo, as she looked down at Steven with confusion and a hint of amusement.

The two stared at each other, to what seemed like hours. Jasper's bright yellow eyes bored into Steven's terrified ones. They were silent. They studied each other's form, not knowing what the other was going to do. Steven was thinking of a way to escape. Garnet always told him, that if he couldn't fight them, simply, _'run away and fight another day'_.

"Steven," Jasper said, snapping Steven out of his thoughts. Odd, she never addressed him by his name before. The large gem stepped toward him with caution, "What are you doing?" she inquired, taking another step closer.

A careful Jasper? Strange.

Suddenly, Steven saw an opening for an escape! It was a risky plan, but he couldn't take the risk of Jasper catching him. Ignoring Jasper and his aching body, Steven went on all fours and dashed between Jasper's legs; making the flask robonoid fall off of him. Once he went past the confused Jasper, Steven jumped to his feet and ran towards the front door.

Heart racing and body aching, Steven could practically taste the freedom awaiting at the front door. But, as quickly as his plan began, is as quickly it stopped. Before he could make his escape, Peridot stood between him and the doorway.

She was standing with her robotic fingers on her hips and her face unamused. It was the _'where do you think you're going'_ look that Steven knew all too well. He's seen it from Pearl plenty of times, especially when he and Amethyst gets caught doing something wrong.

Steven yelped, stopping in his tracks. He turned back around, this time running towards the Warp Pad. They couldn't find him if he hid somewhere they didn't know about.

As Steven ran away from the Homeworld Gems, he looked behind him, seeing a confused Jasper in the kitchen and a gasping Peridot by the front door. They didn't seem like they were going to chase him. Good. When he reached the Warp Pad, they wouldn't have a clue to where he was going.

Suddenly, Steven bumped into a figure. He bumped into it so hard that he toppled over and fell on the said figure.

"Oww..." Steven groaned. All this extra physical action was really putting a strain on Steven's already sore body. Steven closed his eyes and put a hand on his forehead, as if it could soothe his throbbing headache.

"Steven?" A sweet, familiar voice under him said. Steven looked down to see an indigo eyed, blue woman, with a shocked look on his face. Steven's eyes widened in confusion.

"L-Lapis...?" Steven blurted put in surprise. He managed to crawl off of her and steadily helped her up.

This was a Lapis Lazuli. A friend. A friend that could help him. She was a comfortable face to trust, unlike the other gems that were slowly approaching behind them.

"Steven, what are you doing up out of bed so soon–" Lapis tried, but it went in one ear and out the other for Steven.

"Lapis!" Steven grabbed a hold of her wrist, "There's no time! Jasper and Peridot are here! We need to run!" He said, and tried to drag her to the Warp Pad.

"Steven, where are you going?" Lapis asked confused. As if the danger wasn't walking up behind her.

"To the Warp Pad! Hurry! We have to find the Crystal Gems before Jasper and Peridot captures us again!" He exclaimed, pulling her closer towards the Warp Pad. They were almost there. They were so close.

Lapis suddenly wrenched her hand from his grasp, as if a fire had scorched her.

Steven turned around and saw the three Homeworld Gems, side by side, stare at him in confusion.

"Steven, what are you talking about–" Lapis began, but wasn't able to finish, as Steven reached for her hand again.

"C'mon! We need to go before they capture us again!" Steven begged. Why wasn't she cooperating? She was stuck in a watery hell with Jasper for so long, that she obviously didn't want to be put in that situation again. Right?

"Uh... Is this some type of game I should be informed about?" Peridot pipped up from behind.

"Probably," Jasper grumbled as she scratched the top of her head in confusion.

Steven let go of Lapis' hand and jumped back in defense, "It's not a game!" He yelled back at them furiously, making all three gems jump.

When no one decided to reply, Steven took the initiative to talk again, "It was probably a game for you! Was it a game when you poofed Garnet at the beach? Was it a game when you head butt me in the face? Was it a game when you threw me, the Crystal Gems, and Lapis in a cell, after you threatened to kill us?!" Steven yelled, looking directly at Jasper.

Jasper's cat-like eyes went wide at the onslaught of accusations, "I did _what_?"

"When you and Peridot came to the beach that day and attacked us!"Steven yelled, reminding her of that heart wrenching day. How could she not remember. It was the first time she and Steven met.

All three gems glanced at each other.

"And... _who_ did we attack, exactly?" Peridot asked.

" _The Crystal Gems_!" Steven threw his hands in the air dramatically. It was like explaining what 1+1 equals to, and no one was getting it.

"But..." Lapis started, "We _are_ the Crystal Gems." She said with a small smile on her face.

As soon as the words escaped her lips, Steven's face visibly blanched.

"What?" He muttered.

"Affirmative. Look at out uniforms," Peridot suggested, and Steven did.

Much like Jasper's choice of clothing, Lapis had adopted a dark blue star on her blue crop top. Peridot, who's clothing was much more in 'uniform' attire, than the other two, has adopted a yellow star on her v-neck and knees, where the yellow diamond used to be.

"What...?" Steven repeated himself again, more to himself than the Gems before him. Confused tears pricked his eyes as he took a few steps back and stared at them as if they declared something seemingly irrational.

Well, it _was_ seemingly irrational!

The Homeworld Gems, just said that they were the Crystal Gems! This wasn't making any sense! How in the world did that make sense!? Steven grew up with the Crystal Gems. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were the Crystal Gems! Amethyst was like his sister, Pearl was like his overly protective symbolic mother, and Garnet was his motherly type mentor.

Not these three! These three gems were potentially the enemy!

"Where's Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl?" Steven sobbed out, getting confused looks.

The three gems looked at each other, and then back at Steven. Jasper decided it was her time to answer, "I don't know who Garnet and Amethyst are, but, Pearl is hundreds of thousands lightyears away from this planet." She scoffed.

Steven's bits and pieces of hope that was left in him melted away at that comment. Why was Pearl lightyears away? Did Jasper send her there?

"Where is she?" Steven demanded. He may act like he was tough, but deep down, he was so scared that he may accidentally wet himself if any of the gems made an aggressive movement.

Lapis and Peridot turned to Jasper for an answer, who in turned just blinked at Steven before answering, "She's hundreds of thousands of lightyears away in space." She repeated.

"I want to be with her!" Steven declared. He needed to be with her. She was his safety. Hell, any of the Crystal Gems was his safety.

"Steven, you don't even know her–" Peridot tried to intervene, but was cut off by a confused and heartbroken Steven.

"I _do_ know her! She's my friend, my _family_! She's one of the Crystal Gems!" He cried.

All three gems looked at each other in speechless confusion, as Steven was on another verge of tears.

Lapis was the first to clear her throat, "St-Steven... _we_ are the Crystal Gems." She tried reassuring, "Myself, Peridot and Jasper."

Another waterfall of tears fell down Steven's face, and his face twisted into defiance and confusion, "No! You aren't the Crystal Gems!" He yelled back, "The Crystal Gems are Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl! Not you! You guys aren't–" Steven choked on his words. The gems before him were looking at him as if he had fused for the first time. Steven knew at this point that they were confused at his words, as much as he was confused in his situation.

Peridot decided it was her turn to calm him down, "Steven, relax,"she said as she stepped towards him. Jasper decided to follow her in suit.

Steven immediately blanched at the two approaching gems. Sure, he trusted Lapis, but Jasper and Peridot were pushing his boundaries. Steven was never alone with the advancing enemies before, and now that the Crystal Gems – the real Crystal Gems – were no where to be found, Steven couldn't help but to form a protective bubble around himself.

The trio jumped in both shock and amazement at Steven's defense. Wide eyed and even more confused, the three gems stared in awe of a bubble that they've once seen before.

"How the hell did he do that?" Jasper mumbled to herself, but reached the ears of her comrades.

"Didn't... Rose have a bubble like that?" Lapis wondered aloud.

"He's...he's obviously tapped into his inner gem ability and produced one of Rose's shields!" Peridot gaped as she activated her holographic touchscreen with her fingers, "But how could he have done it so easily? Just the other day he could barely do a simple shapeshifting technique...!" She thought out loud as she scanned through her interface.

Peridot began to walk up and inspect the bubble, "Can you control that bubble? Can you get out of it?" She asked Steven.

Steven narrowed his eyes at her, "Of course I can, but I'm not getting out!" He yelled in defiance.

A flash of confusion hit Peridot in the face, "Why not? We aren't going to harm you."

"Yes you _are_!" Argued Steven, tears brimming once again.

"No, we are not!" A frustrated Peridot yelled out.

Steven shook his head in defiance. Steven was confused, scared, and felt more alone than he's ever been in his life. Steven was always surrounded by loved ones, and even if sometimes he was alone, there was always someone he trusted and loved nearby.

But this was different.

Steven was in the comfort of his home, but it was occupied by his enemies. Even if Lapis was there, it didn't make him feel any better. This was the home of the Crystal Gems. Amethyst, Pearl, Garnet and himself. The fact that none of them were there while Jasper, Peridot and Lapis occupied his space of comfort made him feel alienated in his own home.

This all felt like a dream. A terrible dream like he had months ago when images of Malachite flashed in his mind. Steven was ready to wake up. Wake up and find Amethyst raiding their refrigerator, while Pearl nagged at her for eating, and Garnet stoically watching the two bicker with her hands on her hips.

A gem collage of light blue, purple, and burgundy was his comfort.

Instead he was met with the hues of orange, green, and dark blue.

"Yelling at him isn't going to help, _genius_." Jasper snapped at the flustered Peridot.

"Well excuse me for trying to help!" Peridot angrily stomped, "I don't see you trying anything to help, you gigantic clod!"

Being a hothead, Jasper grabbed Peridot's shirt by the collar and lifted her up to be face to face, "I dare you to call me a clod again, you defiant, incompetent, piece of green, shit–!"

"Hey! Knock it off you two!" Lapis intervened, pulling on Jasper's arm, "Can you two stop arguing with each other for one minute? For Steven?" She tried.

Peridot narrowed her eyes at Lapis, "How could I?! This gigantic brute is always in the way! Never helping in any situation–"

"And you think you're helping him by yelling at him like a damn banshee?" Jasper bellowed, almost breaking Peridot's eardrums because of how close they were.

"Jasper, put Peridot down, this isn't helping!" She tugged on Jasper's arm again, "We need to help Steven! There's obviously something wrong with him–"

"I am not a banshee! Now stop screaming at me and get your touch stumps off my uniform!" Peridot hissed back, ignoring Lapis.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you too high tech for a brute like me to touch? You have no high ranking above me. You're as worthless as your title back on Homeworld!" Jasper bared her teeth at the now flustered and upset Peridot.

"You guys! Seriously, cut it out!" Lapis tried again, this time pulling on Peridot's body to let her go free.

Steven darted his eyes back and forth to the three bickering gems. He was confused on what was actually going on. First, they were arguing about helping him and now they're just arguing personally between themselves.

Oddly, this reminded him of when Pearl and Amethyst would fight. Except, this time, Steven wasn't sure of the outcome.

Jasper was large and could get physically violent with anyone that would stand in her way. Steven experienced this from first hand, when Jasper decided to headbutt him in the face when they first met.

Peridot wasn't as vicious, but that didn't mean that she wasn't capable to cause any harm.

The three gems bickered back and forth, as if it were a natural occurrence in the household. They all seemed terribly occupied in each other's rants; leaving Steven alone to recoup.

How confused he was of what was happening. Everything was different. Well, almost everything. The only things that seemed out of place was the Crystal Gems. They were replaced by Jasper, Peridot, and Lapis Lazuli. Everything else seemed to be the same. He was in the temple, in the same house. The kitchen and his bedroom remained the same.

These Gems didn't seem like they wanted to hurt him like Peridot previously said. Of course, this could all just be a ploy to get his guard down so they could suddenly strike.

Steven needed to leave. He couldn't stay here with these Gems. They were obviously preoccupied, so Steven could just leave now.

But _where_?

This was his home. It wasn't like he had a second home to go to. He needed reassurance. Reassurance from someone who he trusted and loved, and didn't need to second guess if that someone was going to hurt him or not.

An idea suddenly sprung in Steven's head. Steven looked back at the bickering Gems again, making sure they were absolutely occupied. He only had one shot at this, before one of the Gems caught onto him and trapped him inside the house.

Steven readied himself for a full on sprint. He took a deep breath and popped his defensive bubble. The action alone made the Homeworld Gems turn around in surprise. However, as soon as they turned, Steven made a dash out the front door. He jumped down a few steps until the sandy beach touched his toes. Steven dashed down the beach, heading for the town. His head throbbing, body aching, and heart racing, Steven continued to push through. He did not stop running towards the town, not even when he hear feint shouts of his name back at the temple.

Steven only had one name running racing through his mind as he ran as if his life depended on it.

 _Dad._

* * *

 **A/N:  
** Uh oh, it's getting a little strange and heated. I hope little Steven will be okay! Stick with me to see what happens next chapter!

Reviews to tell me how I did! I absolutely adore all your helpful reviews! Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hello everyone! **SO sorry about the delay!** You have no idea how long it took me to write this (short) chapter. I mean holy cow.  First I wrote it a lot longer than this but it was shortened for some reasons. _Reason 1_ being: If you didn't know, I write all my stories on my phone, but I had to restart my phone, erasing all its content, including the original draft. _Reason 2_ being: This is my least favorite part of the story to write, mainly cause the rest of the chapters have more character interaction and this one is a little short on that. **So once again, sorry for the delay.**

 **Replies: (I'm replying to the comments that are within the 24 hours I've submitted the Chapter or Super Direct Questions, because it would take a while to respond to each and every one, not to mention the A/N: Will be too long for my liking hahaha)(BUT JUST AN FYI: I DO read all your reviews and I appreciate every comment, even critiques! No review is left unnoticed and I thank all of you ! :D )**

 **Ham** : I'm so glad you've enjoyed it! I hope you stick around for the rest!

 **iggychan89** : I'm so glad for your honest review (trust me it helps). I feel where you're coming from. Steven does usually act friendlier towards Peridot and last chpter kinda does make him seem OOC to see him kinda jumpy and afraid of her right? However I think that Steven is more calm around her when they're alone together, rather than with her and a dangerous gem like Jasper in the room too. He wasn't willing to be friendly towards her when she arrived on Earth with Jasper and Lapis in tow. However this is just my assumption that Steven is frightened of her when he's not alone with her. You may be right about him being OOC here and I'm sorry about that oTL. But! There will be some chapters where Steven hangs out with Peridot, so I hope you'll see the friendliness there!

 **Kraven the Hunter** : ;-; Poor Steven! I'm sure he'll be okay soon :)

 **MadamMandarinPear** : Thank you! I hope you stick around more for the fun!:D

 **20Last-Sparkle01** : Oh man you're coming up with a lot of ideas there! All I can say to that is 'Maaaaayyybbeeeeee :0' And yes, SU fans need a little suffering here and there! :D

 **Bubble77** : Thank You! Maaaybee we may see it... maaaybbbeee nott :3

 **Shirainai Atsune** : That's a really good question. All I can say is wait and seeee! :D

 **FanficLovingPerson** : DAMN YOU GARNET AND AMETHYST! (wherever they aree?) .

 **DeathBright** : Thank you so much! I appreciate the encouraging words! Oh my, you can FEEL the sadness from your phone?! ;A; I'm so sorry!

 **Kaitou Kid San** : Wow I'm definitely flattered! don't mind if you're writing a parallel story to this one! Thanks for asking me first. Please reference me and/or this story when you do so!

Okay now- wait! I FORGOT:

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO _NOT_ own Steven Universe in any way. That right goes to the Miss Talented Rebecca Sugar. Steven Universe also belongs to ROse Quartz and Greg Universe! **

NOW, Without Further Ado, here comes Chapter 3!

 **END A/N:**

* * *

 **CH3: Greg**

 _Tpt tpt tpt tpt._

The sound of his bare feet on the pavement as he ran.

 _Thu-thump. Thu-thump. Thu-Thump._

The sound of his heart, rattling against his chest.

 _Wooosh. Woooosh._

The sound of the ironically calm ocean water washing up on the beach behind him.

Steven was running as fast as he could. He needed to be away. Away from the madness. Away from Homeworld Gems. Away from his home. He didn't understand. He didn't _want_ to understand. All he knew was that, three of his favorite people were gone. No, it was even worse.

They were _replaced_.

Replaced by the enemy, at that.

Not only that Garnet and Amethyst's names were completely off the grid, but Pearl, Steven's beloved Pearl, was apparently in space somewhere. Hundreds of thousands of lightyears away, according to Jasper's brief explanation.

Steven didn't know how to perceive this absurd reality. It was impossible. It was unfathomable. It was surreal.

 _It was happening._

It was happening, and he was running away from it.

Steven didn't even spare the Homeworld Gems a glance as he left the Temple. He didn't even dare to look back. He was just hoping that this was all fabricated.

Steven needed to see a fresh face. A face that he knew that he can love and trust, reassuring him that things were fine. As if 'fine' was the word to describe this distressing matter. However, Steven knew that this person, his father, could always say or do something that would make him feel better. He always have, and this time would be no different.

Another onslaught of tears rolled down his face as he continued to run. As if the emotional distress wasn't enough, Steven body felt like he was just in a fight with a pro-wrestler. His body _ached_ and his head _throbbed_. He felt sick. If it weren't for the dramatic events that just took place in his home, he would most definitely would have considered finding Lion and have him take him to a hospital.

Although, he felt like just collapsing on the pavement in pure exhaustion, Steven's pace never faltered. He kept running and running, hoping that he reached his father before his legs gave out. And, just before they did, on the horizon, not too far away, Steven could see the top of the car wash building that his father owned. He could see the symbol of an elephant dowsing itself with water, with the highlighted letters saying, "It's A Wash". As he kept getting closer to the building, the view of his father's van was in its usual parking spot, with its owner beside it, scrubbing at the sliding door.

Steven's heart quivered with delight as he took in the familiar sight of his father. At least this aspect of his life didn't change. He gave a relieved smile and if possible, ran even faster towards him, yelling his father's name.

Greg turned around as he heard his name and gave a small gasp, yelling back, "Steven?"

Greg saw his son scramble towards him with puffy eyes and tears rolling down his face. Steven ran full speed into his father's plumped belly, and wrapped his arms around him, burying his face. He clung to his father as if his life depended on it, now crying relieved tears that at least one of his family members remained in his life. "You're here," Steven mumbled to himself, "You're really _here_."

Steven embraced his father for what seemed like hours to him. His father was his personal comfort. When he couldn't rely on the Crystal Gems to help him with "emotional human stuff", his father was always an adult that he could depend on. Even though his father would sometimes doubt his own abilities to be a good parent, Steven would always assure him that he was the best father that any kid could ask for. Greg was supportive of everything Steven believed in, and was always concerned about his son's well being. And with those concerns, Greg would always find some way to comfort his son, whether it was from an emotion lecture to a simple hug, Greg was always there for Steven. Always.

Steven clung to Greg, tightly, silently sobbing with relief. However, Greg oddly didn't return the embrace, instead he just stood there as if he was frozen. They stood like that for a while, before Greg wriggled uncomfortably out of Steven's grasp. Steven felt his father's discomfort and slowly released his death grip.

What was wrong? Greg _never_ shrugged off a hug from Steven. Was Steven accidentally stepping on his toes? Was he hugging him too tightly? Yeah, maybe that was it. Steven dropped his arms and instead, held the hem of his father's tank top, while looking up at him with his hopeful, watery eyes. However, that was a huge mistake.

Steven's face faltered for a bit as he saw the look on his father's face. He wasn't happy to see him. He wasn't surprised, or sad. Hell, Steven would have picked an angry Greg, than the look he was giving him now. The look on Greg's face was a distant and confused one. His father never looked at him like that before, and it was more than unsettling. The look was almost as bad when that one time, Steven accidentally slapped Garnet's shades off of her face when she tried to take away the mirror that Lapis was trapped in. That look that she gave Steven sent horrified chills down his spine, and constantly reminded him to never do anything like that remotely close ever again.

However, the look that his father was giving him was as if Greg and Steven weren't related. Like Steven was some random kid hugging him, and not his beloved son.

"Err, hey, Steven," Greg finally said awkwardly, politely prying Steven's fingers from his shirt, "Need something?" He asked half-heartedly. Steven only blinked at his father's poor reaction. He was here crying his eyeballs out and Greg only asked if he needed something. The most common response to Steven's emotional outbursts would usually involve asking him, what's wrong or what happened. Not some half-assed response that you would give a stranger on the street.

With no response, Greg awkwardly shuffled on his feet and scratched the back of his head and said, "Well uh... If ya need anything I'll be over here..." Pointing towards his van that he was scrubbing graffiti off of. He slowly shuffled away from Steven and went back to scrubbing his truck, ignoring his son all together.

Steven, on the other hand, numbly watched his father scrub the side of his van. His tears were long gone. He was just standing there with confused shock, etched across his face. Something was wrong. Seriously _wrong_. His dad was acting weird. He wasn't showing any emotion, care, or affection towards him. He was treating him like some sort of bastard child that he's never met, until now. This was wrong.

Everything was _wrong_.

The silence stretched on. The only noise was the soapy rag being brushed on the side of the door of the van, and minor grunts coming from its owner who was trying his hardest to scrub the marker off.

He was ignoring him.

Steven's heart ached just a little, before he finally made up his mind to confront his dad about his off behavior.

" _Dad!_ " Steven suddenly yelled, stamping his bare foot against the pavement. Greg was startled at the sudden outburst and accidentally knocked a bucket of soapy water over.

Greg looked down at the water as it casually crept down the driveway and onto the street. Greg groaned in annoyance, "Now I'm gonna have to go inside and fill it up with warm water again." He sighed.

Suddenly a pair of tiny hands grabbed Greg's hips, in an attempt to shake him. Greg looked down to see his son, with a saddening determined look, with a glint of anger, "What's wrong with you!?" Steven yelled. He's never really yelled directly at his dad like that before, but he wanted answers. He trusted this man with everything that was going on in his life. He can't believe that he was treating him so poorly.

Greg could only blink. He gave a confused and defensive look, "What's wrong with _me_? You're the one that ran into me crying and stuff!" He accused. Steven couldn't believe his ears. His dad, the only male figure in his life, made it seem like he didn't even care about anything that was going on with his only son.

"Y-you're–" Steven gulped, "You're supposed to ask me what's wrong! You're supposed to comfort me!" Steven yelled back, hoping to get some sense into his father.

Greg cringed, "Why...?" He asked. But he already knew the answer. His body language and mannerisms showed that he was uncomfortable in this situation.

Steven's eyes widened, and his expression became an angry one, "What do you mean, ' _why_ '!? Because you're my dad! That's what you're supposed to do! You've always had in the past!" Steven spat out. He had never been so upset with his father before.

Greg blinked, and only shook his head. He again, politely pried Steven's hands from him again, "Listen, I know we're...related...but I–" he paused, unsure what to say to his son.

" _Related_..." Steven repeated his father's word carefully, "We're more than just _related_! We're father and son! We're also best friends! We play our instruments together! We play at Beach-a-palooza together! We build things together! We watch our favorite movies! I help you around the car wash! We eat our favorite foods! We talk about mom—"

" _Stop_. Stop. Stop." Greg cut him off. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Steven wasn't sure if he was getting through to him or just made matters worse. But, the father and son stood in silence. Steven eagerly waited on his dad's response.

Greg finally gave out a huge sigh and answered his son, "Look, Steven. I don't know what you're talkin' about." He said, making Steven's face and heart drop, "I've never went to Beach-a-palooza...or played games with you..." Greg paused, "And I most definitely never mentioned anything about Rose." He confirmed.

New tears glossed over Steven's eyes, threatening to cry again. Steven's heart felt like it was going to break. What was going on? Were all of his memories false? Did he just dream up about the fun times he's had with his dad? Did he dream up about his time with the Crystal Gems, and the missions they went on. Was everything a dream and this was the reality. The reality where he and his father barely have a relationship? Where he lived with the unfamiliar Crystal Gems? Was this the reality he was destined to live in?

"You're probably confusing some stuff what the gems said, you know?" Greg added, "I ain't got nothing to do with gem stuff." He shrugged off.

"Not even my mom?" Steven muttered angrily at the thick-headedness of his father.

Greg paused a bit before responding, "Rose...is a _gem_...so if she's a gem, I have nothing to do with...gem stuff—"

"SHES MY _MOM_!" Steven suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, scaring Greg half to death. "She's my _mom_! You're my _dad_! You had to have _something_ to do with her! I'm apart of _you_ and _her_! So you have something to do with _me_! You're acting like I'm not your son! You're acting like you've never met me before!"

Greg blinked at his son's outburst, "St-Steven...you know I don't get involved with...gems–"

"You were involved with my mom right?!" Steven spat out. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Th-that was before–" Greg stammered. He took in a deep breath and stared directly into Steven's puffy wet eyes, "Listen, I haven't dealt with any gem stuff since Rose passed. She was the only gem I've had a relationship, and she's the _only one_ that I _ever will_ have a relationship with." He sternly said.

And with those words, Steven's heart finally broke apart. He felt shattered. His own father, basically didn't want anything to do with him.

Steven looked down at his toes and murmured, "...you don't want to have a relationship with _me_."

Greg visibly blanched at the statement, "St-Steven...I–"

"You don't want to have a relationship with me, 'cause I'm a gem." Steven concluded. Tears were dripping off his nose and onto his bare feet.

"S-Steven...I-I..." Greg tried. His eyes glinted with regret, "...I didn't mean–" he stepped a little closer to his son.

Steven suddenly whipped his head up at his father, who's movements faltered by the look in his son's eyes, "Well I didn't ask for _this_!" Steven yelled with tears streaming down his face, "I knew that deep down that-that the gems kind of regretted me being here! They all wish Rose still existed and would live their lives together happily! Pearl always mentions her and I know deep down she would rather be with _Rose_ than _me_!"

Greg's eyes widened, "Y-you know Pearl?" He mumbled in astonishment, but was unheard by Steven.

"I always thought they regretted me, but...but—" Steven bit his lip before spitting out his next onslaught of angry words, "But, I NEVER thought _YOU_ would be the one to regret me too!"

Greg could only drop his mouth open at his son's words. He was paralyzed with a feeling of guilt. Before he could get a word out to his son, Steven turned and ran back from where he came.

Steven ran back to the temple with plagued thoughts and a broken heart.

His father, Gregory Universe, flat out told him that he never was involved in his life, and that he didn't plan on being involved with him.

Was everything in Steven's life completely fabricated? There was no Garnet, Amethyst, or Pearl. His father never had a relationship with him, no matter all the fun memories he's ever had with him: singing together, attending the annual Beach-a-Palooza, playing games, watching movies, barbecuing, talking about his late mother. None of those things ever occurred in Steven's life? They were all...dreams...? And this was his _reality_?

If this was his reality, then what about the other people that were in his life? His friends? Sadie and Lars? The Pizza family? Onion? Sour Cream? Frybo? Renaldo? Mayor Dewey and Buck Dewey?

 _Connie?_

Steven couldn't bear the probability of Connie, his best friend, may not even be his friend.

His reality was skewed. If his family was different, then its more than likely that his friendships were different as well. There was no way around this convoluted reality that Steven didn't belong in.

Steven made it to the beach. The calm tides of the ocean slowly crept up to shore and reverted back. He continued running towards the Temple.

His instincts told him to go home. His safe haven. His comfort zone. He wanted to go home. His real home. With his gems. The Crystal Gems. Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet, with their welcoming smiles and warm hugs. He yearned for their motherly affection. They always had a skill to comfort him in any way. Whether is was a kiss on the forehead from Garnet, an addictive hug from Pearl, or an affectionate 'love punch' that Amethyst bestowed on him.

Now the Temple was infested with the new 'Crystal Gems'. These Homeworld gems that swear that they are indeed the original Crystal Gems and has replaced the Crystal Gems he knew and loved.

Steven immediately came to a halt. Why was he running to the Temple if the real Crystal Gems were already there? He was only following his instincts. If things were going down south, he would just run to the Crystal Gems for help, like that time Buck Dewey was mocking his T-Shirt designs. Steven immediately ran to the Crystal Gems for support, and this situation was no different. All except, the Crystal Gems weren't the Crystal Gems he knew at all.

This time it was Lapis, Peridot and Jasper.

Steven's spine trembled at the thought of the gigantic gem. Out of the three of them, he was frightened of Jasper the most. He didn't want to face her, or either of the other gems again.

"What...what do I do?" Steven asked himself as he entwined his fingers in his locks of curly hair. He fell backwards onto his butt and pulled his knees up to his chest.

His body still ached and his headache only got worse, especially from the excess crying and screaming that he's done earlier. Steven felt lonely. He's been alone before, but feeling lonely was a newer experience. This was the first time he's never had anyone to rely on.

There was _no dad_ to sing for him.

There was _no Amethyst_ to jokingly assure him.

There was _no Garnet_ to predict a positive outcome.

There was _no Pearl_ to coddle him.

He was _alone_.

An everlasting feeling of loneliness as he sat by himself in the middle of the beach.

Steven had never felt so defeated.

* * *

This Chapter was not my cup of tea. However! I am more than excited to write the next chapter, CHAPTER 4: EXPLANATIONS (I might change the title of that one). Happy Thanksgiving to you USA readers! **Remember to be thankful to your parents/guardians, because one day you might go into another Universe and they may have a terrible relationship with you.**

 **Remember to Review! I value each of your reviews and I dearly appreciate all of your feedback (even critiques!) Thank You! - KS**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hello! Chapter 4 is here! Sorry for yet another delay. I have finals and other essays to do. I also have been drawing fan art for this fic! I really want to show it to you guys but it's wayy too early for you to see it. It would be like a spoiler if I posted it! SO I'm going to wait until later to post in on Tumblr for you all to enjoy! Thank you all for your comments and love thus far! I'm glad you all like it!

 **Replies: **

**tortue071** \- D: I AM SO SORRY YOU CRIED! I mean, my intent was making you feel sad but NOT CRY! I feel so bad now ;-; ( But I'm glad you liked it! Who doesn't like angst?)

 **Guest** \- Right! You sound so positive! You should be Steven's life coach!

 **cristofer25** \- Thank you! I'll do my best!

 **Queen-of-Earth** \- D: I'm so sorry for the delay my Queen *bows* I hope this new chapter will be of use! :)

 **Hildegard Von Mariendorf** \- FEELS THAT ARE STRONGER THAN THE ACTUAL SHOW!? Oh my gosh thank you!

 **Cyber Orteck** \- :0 ! Steven appreciates your aching heart 3

 **Shiranai Atsune -** Hmm he is different. :3

 **ItsAsecret** \- Thank you so much! I'm so sorry for the update wait. However, I made this update extremely lengthy for my late updates :) I hope you enjoy! **  
**

 **I'm out of names** \- :0 ! Well.. Yellow Diamond? I don't know about that... but Pearl...he knows about~! Somethinggg's going onn around here~! Thank you so much! And I know ;-; I'm so sorry for all you Gravity Fall fans out there! *gives you all healing feels*! **  
**

 **Desire4Chocolates** \- I know it was really ehhh... gloomy. I told you I didn't like that chapter hahaha! I'm so glad you waited for the update! Here's another update for you~! **  
**

 **20Last-Sparkle01** \- ! I thought I was the only one who didn't like Greg at the beginning of the series, but I did too grow to love him and though he was a great father :). I;m so sorry I gave you those hating vibes again hahaha! But it's for the story. You can always love regular Greg from afar! Please give Steven all of the hugs because he is a precious little cinnamon roll! I'm sorry for the late update, but hopefully this update will suffice because it's longer and has the Homeworld Gems in it! :D **  
**

 **katmar1994** \- Hmm that's a maaaaayyybeeeee hahaha! I wish I could give the answer away! But I'll just keep quiet and keep updating :) ! I Hope You enjoy this chapter! (And thank you for my Thanksgiving! :D ) **  
**

 **eternal mist -** GIVE HIM ALL THE HUGS! HE IS A PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL! **  
**

 **Tatopatato** \- :D ! Thank you ! Thank you for the support! I'm going to do my best! I always write on this story through my phone - like every day, so I'm not gonna pull a Crewniverse Hiatus on YA! hahah! **  
**

 **Fanfic writer 117 -** Thank YOU! HERE's Your next chapter! Thank you for being so patient! **  
**

I'm glad you guys are sticking with me! NowL

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything about Steven or his Universe!**

* * *

 **CH4: I Promise**

"I told you we should have gone after him." A hushed Peridot hissed from the corner of Steven's room. She was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed while scowling, "Now he's in a worse condition than I've already feared."

"It was either to let him go or have a panic attack right in front of us." Lapis whispered back. She was sitting on the bed next to Steven while she stroked his hair affectionately, "You saw how frightened he was at the sight of us..."

"Hmph," Jasper grunted disapprovingly, shifting of her weight on the tiny wooden stairs that she was sitting on. The floorboards underneath her creaked unappreciatively, " _Us?_ Please. Speak for yourself. He didn't seem have a problem with _you_ , Lapis."

"Agreed." Peridot followed, "He's seemed to have this fabricated story that Jasper and I have made a convoluted scheme to capture him and yourself."

A thoughtful silence stretched, waiting for Lapis' response.

"I don't know where that...idea came from, but whatever the case may be, we need to support him." She paused, "That means _no_ yelling or fighting. It will only make things worse." She said and glared sternly to her comrades.

There was a brief pause until both Jasper and Peridot grunted in agreement. They were quiet for a few moments. The only noise that was barely audible was Steven's light breathing as he slept.

"Once he wakes, I need to do a proper check up on his body." Peridot brought up.

"Yeah, yeah, we know already. You don't need to repeat it." Jasper sighed.

Peridot let out an exasperated huff, but before she could give Jasper a piece of her mind, Lapis cut in, "I promise, once he wakes up, and I calm him down, you have complete control on whatever you seem fit."

"Hn," Peridot responded, clearly pleased, "Good."

Minutes passed and there was a strong silence, thick with uncertainty and questioning. The three gems were waiting patiently for what seemed like years to wait for Steven to wake up from his slumber.

Steven was unconscious again for the past three days. During those days, Peridot managed to successfully feed Steven with a feeding tube, getting some type of food in his body. However, Peridot only fed him twice a day, which wasn't enough food to actually make Steven feel full, considering how much he actually consumes on a daily basis.

Because of this slight malnutrition Steven looked sickly pale compared to his natural hue. However, this could be due to whatever is physically wrong with the quartz child. Since the day he accidentally activated the Versal Stone, Steven's body, especially his face, looked a like he was going through some wear and tear. Steven's whole body was swollen from head to toe. His eyes had huge bags under them (before his crying escapades) and they had horrible dark rings circling under them. His hair, which was usually thick, neat, brown curls, were now messy locks of tangled hair. Though his face was almost the same color as Jasper's hair, Steven's nose was as red as a ruby.

"When is he gonna wake up?" Jasper mumbled, more to herself than to either other gem.

"Most likely at any given moment. His unconscious state usually lasts about three days..." Peridot answered.

"If...he does decide to wake up...you two have to stay behind me–" Lapis started.

All types of Hell broke loose.

"What do you mean, ' _stay behind you'_?!" Jasper roared, jumping onto her feet, towering over Lapis.

" _Shh! Jasper!_ I told you to keep your voice down in here!" Lapis quietly hissed at the larger gem.

"You're not the only one that cares about him!" Jasper yelled, ignoring Lapis' previous statement, "If you think that I'm going to cower behind your back while you bark out orders, then you're looking at the wrong type of Quartz!" She bellowed, curling her fingers into a tight fist.

Lapis stood up as well, leaving Steven's side. She boldly stood in front of Jasper, preparing to kick her out of the house if she escalated her voice any further.

"Jasper. You need to calm down, _now_. If you won't then I will have no choice but to make you leave." Lapis growled out. It was more than a threat, it was a promise, " _Don't_ test me." Her words came out as sharp as a knife. A knife that made Jasper silent for a few moments.

Lapis took this opportunity to calmly explain herself, "Look, we don't want Steven to panic again when he wakes up. If he's got this idea that you or Peridot are going to hurt him, then we don't want him to feel like he's in danger. I'm not asking you and Peridot to leave per-say, but I want you two to give him some space to calm down and feel comfortable."

Jasper's eyebrows and lips twitched in utter annoyance. She knew that Lapis was right. Steven obviously felt horribly uncomfortable around her and Peridot, and it would make things considerably worse if Steven panicked in their presence. Although Lapis was logically correct in the matter, Jasper wasn't entirely thrilled with her authority.

Jasper jerked her head to the side and folded her arms against her chest and grunted. She wasn't happy with the idea, but she accepted it.

Lapis took Jasper's silence as a form of compliance, and she visibly relaxed. She went back to her seat, beside the sleeping Steven and continued to stroke his hair.

Each gem occupied themselves quietly as they waited for their youngest member to wake. Jasper had her back against a wall, glaring at nothing in particular, pondering her thoughts. Peridot fiddled with her touchscreen interface, scrolling past information that she seemed to be disinterested in. Lapis was calmly stroking Steven's hair, humming a lullaby she used to sing to Steven when he was an infant.

According to Peridot, Steven could wake up at any moment. Although that information was given, each gem felt extremely anxious. Once Steven wakes up, there's no telling what strange things he'll conjure up this time around. They weren't sure where to start. Should they listen to the story he's created, then tell him that he was wrong? Or, should they update him about his life and let it all sink in?

Whatever the case may be, Peridot had to do some serious tests on him. Analyze his mental health as well as his physical state. The physical torment that Steven was going through was abnormal to say the least. This wasn't some type of flu. And even if it was, it was progressively getting worse each day. If it wasn't for Lapis' strict policy on letting Steven get some rest first before she gave him a proper check up, Peridot would've figured out the problem with gem hybrid by now.

Peridot only sighed in annoyance. He was fine for now, she supposed.

 _'But, for how long?'_ She pondered.

She shook her head defensively. She rather not think about it. Steven was the only remnant of the last Rose Quartz. A dear friend to her. She promised that she would make sure Steven was safe and healthy. A vow that she, Jasper and Lapis took in a heartbeat.

Peridot couldn't help but to feel guilty at the fact that Steven was nearly killed to the exposure of the Versal Stone. He shouldn't have gone along with them. He should've stayed home where it was safe. Instead, Lapis and Jasper foolishly let his 'puppy dog eyes' (as the earthlings referred to it) to persuade him into participating with their mission.

"Foolish idea..." Peridot mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Lapis asked, turning around to face Peridot.

Peridot looked up from her touchscreen and gave Lapis a sour look, "It was a foolish idea to bring him along with us on that mission." She said, disengaging her fingers.

Lapis sighed. She figured that Peridot was going to give a lecture sooner or later, "Peridot..."

"It was foolish, brash, and spontaneous," Peridot added, "He shouldn't have even come along on such dangerous mission."

"Peridot, it was an accident. It could've happened to any of us—" Lapis tried.

"There wouldn't have been an _accident_ if he were home, like I suggested that very day. As of now, Steven would be enjoying his evening dinner, getting ready to bathe and sleep. But, instead, he's in a coma, fighting off whatever illness that's threatening him." Peridot snapped, "This would never had happen if you three would listen to me _for_ _once_."

"Oh please. Cry me a river, Peridot." Jasper finally cut in. Both Lapis and Peridot turned to her direction. Jasper's back was still against the wall, with her arms folded tightly against her chest, glaring no where in particular.

Peridot's eyes narrowed, " _Excuse me_? What I'm saying is correct. If you clods would just listen to me for once, then maybe every mission would run smoothly—"

"All we do is listen to your mundane plans," Jasper spat, now glaring at the green gem, "We give you the lead on every mission. You tell us what to do and what our objective is. You have complete control over the layout of all of our missions. So don't pull some bullshit out your ass saying that we don't listen to you."

Unable to hide her anger, Peridot jumped up on her feet and balled her fingers into a fist, " _I_ wasn't the one who declared that Steven should go along with us for that mission! _I_ told you that it was dangerous and now _look_!" Peridot gestured to Steven who was breathing raggedly, "Look! He's hurt! He's not feeling well! We made an agreement with Rose Quartz, saying that we will protect him and make sure he's healthy. I don't know if your vision is obscure, but Steven is clearly unwell!"

Jasper narrowed her eyes and Peridot, "So what? You want Steven to be sequestered in the temple his whole life?"

Peridot's face flashed in surprise, "I-I didn't say _that_!" She protested, "I was indicating it was unwise to take him with us on dangerous missions—"

"All of our missions can be potentially dangerous." Jasper sneered, "We can't just keep Steven here on every mission, just because you're scared he'll get hurt. Despite your worries, you need to understand that Steven is a Crystal Gem too."

Peridot's face dropped, and had no words to say to the older and stronger gem. Jasper, in a sense, was correct. Steven was a Crystal Gem. It was his duty also, to protect the inhabitants of the living creatures on Earth. But still...

"He's... _human_...humans are fragile..." Peridot mumbled to herself.

"He's half human, Peridot," Lapis finally said quietly, gaining Peridot's attention, "Half gem, half human. Steven can hold his own." She said with a small encouraging smile.

Peridot looked down at her feet, with a defeated look, "That's what I'm worried about." She sighed.

Lapis was going to respond, until she heard Steven painfully groan to himself. He was shifting painfully under the pile of blankets that Peridot insisted on giving him. All eyes were fixated on the youngest gem, who was beginning to wake up from his elongated slumber.

His heavy eyelids struggled a bit, until they slowly, but surely, opened, revealing the pair of weary red eyes.

Steven blinked once. Then once more. His vision adjusted to his surroundings. He was in his room. From the lighting, which was dim from the setting sun, he figured it was late afternoon, almost evening.

Hovering above him, was a blue woman, who's features were laced with both relief and concern.

" _Lapis_...?" Steven croaked out. Not sure if he was dreaming.

Lapis gave a faint smile, "Hey, Steven," She said softly, not sure what to say first. _'Should I tell him not to panic? Or should I wait until he says something first?'_ She pondered.

Steven groaned again, fluttering his eyes closed, "My head hurts..."

Lapis' hand shot up to Steven's forehead, checking his temperature, "Hm..still warm..." She muttered.

"Does he have a fever?" Jasper asked quietly behind her. She wasn't too close behind them. She was far away enough for Steven not to see her.

"Seems like it." She answered. She looked back at the groaning boy and asked, "Steven? Do you need anything?"

Steven opened one eyelid before saying, "Water."

Before Lapis went to go fetch Steven some water, Peridot had already retrieved a glass of water and handed it to Lapis, then quietly stood next to Jasper.

Silently thanking her, Lapis gave Steven slow sips of the water. Minutes passed while Steven slowly recovered. He drunk gulp after gulp of his tall glass of water, hydrating himself.

Finally, Steven finished the glass, making him feel and look a lot better than when he woke up. There was a positive hue of color that took over his face. It wasn't much of a drastic change, but it was way better than the sickly color that he was sporting earlier.

Lapis ran a hand through Steven's hair, giving a heartwarming smile, "How do you feel, now?" She asked. Steven gave her a weak and tired smile in return. He was too dazed to fully understand what was actually going on. However, Lapis took this as a good sign. If he was content right now, she could feed off of his emotions to calm him down if need be.

Lapis took in a sharp breath, "Steven, I know by now that you're probably tired and confused," she started, making Steven's eyes change into an unsettling stare, "But, what I need from you, right now, is to remain calm, okay? Under _no circumstances_ do you begin to panic. No one is here to harm you." Lapis assured. Unfortunately, that assurance didn't take the the unsettling and shocked expression from Steven's face. Lapis wasn't sure what his expression meant, but she could tell it was going to lead to a line of confusing questions that she wasn't sure she was ready to answer.

"Th-this is real?" Steven rasped, "Not a dream...?"

Lapis blinked before answering, "This is not a dream, Steven." She glanced behind her where Peridot and Jasper were standing silently. Japser gave a perplexed stare, and Peridot gave a concerned grimace. However, the duo stood firmly behind Lapis and remained silent, waiting on what Lapis was going to do or say next.

Lapis looked back at Steven. He had a blank look on his face that was very unsettling, "Steven, what is the last thing you remember?" She asked carefully. She thanked the stars above that he was at least able to remember her name. But...was his awful memory of Jasper and Peridot still embedded in his head? Or what about the ludicrous statement that he knew who Pearl was?

Steven stared blankly at her for a few moments. His expression never faltered as he lay numbly on his bed. Lapis began to worry. The Steven she knew never made a face like this. It was really strange to watch him not act like his usually happy and energetic self.

The unbearable silence stretched on. Steven wasn't even directly looking Lapis in the eyes. He seemed to be in deep thought. Something that Jasper and Peridot were known to do. If it weren't for his steady breathing, the gems would have thought he was frozen.

"This is my _reality_." Steven said quietly. Lapis' eyes widened before she glanced back at her comrades behind her, who shared the same incredulous look as she.

"All my memories...were _fake_." Steven whispered, closing his eyes, "Garnet isn't real. Amethyst isn't real. Pearl is..." He paused before a tear escaped his eye, "My dad doesn't love me." He strangled out with a silent sob following after.

Lapis' felt her gem ache at Steven's heartbreaking words. She knew that Greg was a...complex man. She knew that his relationship with Steven was strained, but she never heard Steven actually be upset about it. He always brushed it off or give a weak shrug about his relationship with his father, but never cried. No. Never cried about his father.

"Steven, no," she tried, running her hand through his hair, "Your dad does love you. He loves you with all his heart. He's...he's just..." She tried to think of the correct response.

Steven sniffled, "My dad never acted that way before...he always loved me. He always took care of me. He always listened to what I had to say. But _now_..." He paused, "Now he wants nothing to do with me. He said that all of the stuff we did together never happened. All of it is fake." He gritted out.

"What do you mean fake?" Lapis asked calmly. She and the others might as well try to understand what Steven was talking about before raining on his parade.

"The Crystal Gems. You. Jasper. Peridot. Dad. My friends. My family. My adventures. You and dad said it was all fake." He sobbed, "I live with Garnet, Amethyst and Peal. I go with them on missions and stuff. They're the Crystal Gems. They had a leader, which was my mom. My mom and dad fell in love and my mom gave up her physical form to give birth to me! The Crystal Gems and I fight corrupted gems, and Homeworld Gems like Jasper and Peridot." He said, throwing out as much information as he could.

"You guys think that none of that stuff happened. Like Garnet and Amethyst doesn't exist, and Pearl is just gone. Like my dad and I never spend time with each other. But, that's not true. It was too... _real_ to be a dream. And...if it was a dream, and this is my reality, then I want to go back to sleep and be with them." He cried.

Heavy tension filled the room. Steven was clearly upset and the gems were only touching the surface of understanding why. He seemed to keep repeating these unknown gem names: Garnet and Amethyst. The name Amethyst definitely sounded like a quartz name, but the only quartz that Lapis knew that Steven was aware of, was Jasper.

"So," she said aloud, drawing Steven's attention, "You say that...the Crystal Gems...are you, Garnet, Amethyst...and Pearl...right?" She asked, hoping that she could follow his 'story'. Steven only nodded, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Not us. Jasper, Peridot and I...are not Crystal Gems...we're the Homeworld Gems that...you and the Crystal Gems fight?" She asked.

Steven shook his head, "You're my friend. I only fought you once, but it was a misunderstanding." He said grimacing, "Jasper and Peridot captured you on their ship and kidnapped me and the Crystal Gems. We eventually escaped, but you fused with Jasper as Malachite so you can keep her as your prisoner at the bottom of the ocean."

Lapis' face immediately blanched when he mentioned Malachite. Something was definitely going on with Steven's 'story'. It must of have some sort of truth behind it, and not some sort or fabricated tale he was spewing on about. Because the truth was, Lapis _never_ fused with Jasper in front of Steven. Hell, they never even discussed what fusion _was_ to Steven. He knew nothing of the concept, how it worked, what it was used for, and most importantly, they never told him that their fusion was Malachite. The Crystal Gems decided that when Steven was in better control over his powers, they would all explain the function of fusion and when and how to use it. But now, he suddenly knows what fusion is and what she and Jasper can turn into.

What he was saying had to be real.

Lapis was in a shocked silence, paralyzed with confusion. _'He knows Malachite? He knows about fusion? He knows about Homeworld Gems?'_ Her thoughts scrambled. She shuddered at the possibility of Steven knowing a lot more than what he said. _'Did the Versal Stone give him expansive knowledge?'_ She wondered. She shook her head in disbelief, _'No. He's clearly just as confused as me. He thinks that he's lived with a completely different family, and is upset about their absence...'_

It was clear that Steven was acting strange. From his defensive body language around Peridot and Jasper, and the stories he's proclaiming to be true. And how he knew who Pearl was...

"How many times did I tell you that we _shouldn't_ teach Steven about fusion until he's ready?!" Peridot hissed loudly from behind, grabbing both Lapis' and Steven's attention.

"I didn't tell him shit," Jasper snapped. She narrowed her eyes at Peridot, "Why do you always assume that _I_ did something?" She barked.

 _'Oh great,'_ Lapis thought. They couldn't just stay quiet for five minutes could they? Of course not. It was nearly impossible for Jasper and Peridot to stop bickering, even for a couple of minutes.

Steven's eyes widened at the voices. He couldn't see them because they moved to the bottom of the stairs, but he could definitely sense their presence, not to mention their loud voices. He trembled at their bickering; somehow shrinking further into his mattress.

"Because _you_ always break the rules when you're around him!" Peridot replied haughtily.

"And who's _rules_ am I supposed to abide by? _Yours_?" Jasper scoffed, "Last I check, _you_ aren't the one to be giving any orders of any kind—"

"Will you two quit it!" Lapis yelled, ceasing the uprising argument. She glared at the two gems that were now looking at her in small shock, "Good heavens above, can you two just remain in a peaceful state without causing an uproar?"

Moments passed before Jasper gave Lapis a sour look, while Peridot sheepishly looked away. Although both would never admit it, they knew they were wrong. The gems abandoned their previous argument, now fixating their eyes on something else to only ignore each other. Lapis sighed. Those two were definitely the never ending thorn in her side. They were both so childish at times that she had forgotten that Steven was the actual child of the Temple.

"L-Lapis..." Steven whimpered behind her. Lapis spun around and saw that Steven wore a distressed look on his face. Visibly frightened by something...better yet someone. Lapis, however, wasn't completely clueless. She knew why he whimpered behind her.

"Steven. I told you before, and I will tell you again. No one here is going to hurt you. Not me. Not Peridot. Not Jasper." She gently put a calming hand on his cheek, "Trust, me." She said with a smile.

Steven gave a nervous gulp, "You promise?"

"I promise," She said.

Steven let go a breath that he wasn't aware that he was holding, "I feel horrible..." He groaned, knitting his eyebrows together.

Lapis frowned and put a hand on his forehead, "Peridot said that she's willing to do some tests on you. Your temperature has been extremely high for the past few days." She said.

Steven looked confused, then shocked, " _Few days_?" He gasped.

"The day when you woke up, you were asleep for about two days. Then when you ran out of here, Jasper found you unconscious on the beach, and you've been asleep for three days, until now." She explained, "You're temperature was sky rocketing."

Steven frowned and gave a small whimper. He wasn't sure what was wrong with his health. He's been sick before, but he's never felt this bad. He felt hot and his body still ached. He felt happy that Lapis was there trying to nurture his health, but he rather the usual Pearl or Garnet to take his temperature and nurse his fever.

"Peridot wants to check your vitals and figure out what's wrong with your health," Lapis said, "She may be able to determine why...everything is different...for you, y'know?" Lapis smiled encouragingly.

Steven's eyes widened, "You mean like... _fix_ what's happening? Like finding Pearl, Amethyst and Garnet? Fixing my dad? Making everything _normal_?"

Lapis nodded, "She'll be able to figure out everything what's wrong, and will probably be able to fix it." She smiled.

Finally, hope surged through Steven. He wasn't sure why everything was reversed and twisted, but he was so glad that everything could possibly be the same. He could see Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, his Dad. Everyone would be normal. Lapis and Jasper would still be at the bottom of the ocean, and Peridot would still be running around on Earth somewhere. His old team would be back. Their silly antics would be the same. Everything will be the _same_.

"We need to move you to my chambers so I can check what your malfunction is." Peridot said as she walked up from behind Lapis. Steven let out a small gasp when he saw the green clad gem. She wasn't the scariest out of the three. It was probably her cold, sharp, demeanor that Steven found a bit intimidating. He remembered the coldness in her voice the day she arrived on the beach when she fired a blast at him and the Crystal Gems. He couldn't shake off at how clueless and harmless she was one moment at the Kindergarten, to a frigid killer to the next. Sure, he could be bold, but without the Crystal Gems close by, Steven began to question how brave he really was.

"Okay," Lapis nodded. She looked at Steven, "Steven, do you think you can move?" She asked.

Steven grimaced. He barely thought he could roll over, let alone walk somewhere. Steven grunted with a negative response. Peridot sighed, "Okay, then I'll have Jasper carry you there." She concluded.

Steven froze. He knew that at one point he had to interact with her, but he didn't know it would be this soon. Especially when she had to carry him to somewhere.

Lapis was his friend. They both had mutual trust and understanding for each other.

Peridot was...different. She was more of a misunderstood gem that was clueless about Earth names and customs, but she was quick to follow any orders without fail. Including obliterating innocent people without hesitation.

Jasper was a whole different type of gem. Each encounter they've made was a malicious one. When she first arrived on the beach, poofing Garnet and hitting him in the face, to his dream realm where Jasper charged after him, in an attempt to hurt him. Jasper was an immediate threat. A gem not to be dealt with.

Steven whimpered a little louder in distress. He was scared.

Peridot and Lapis looked down at him on surprise.

"Steven, remember our promise." Lapis said knowingly.

Steven took in quick shallow breaths. Lapis promised that no one will hurt him. He had to trust her. No friend would break a promise. Even though was sweating nervous bullets, Steven finally nodded in consent.

Peridot let out a sharp sigh before turning her head back to the living room area, "Jasper, get out of the fridge and come carry Steven to my room."

Steven heard the refrigerator door slam and an unhappy grunt, "Alright."

He heard heavy footsteps make their way towards him and up the stairs. A massive mane of hair walked up the stairs. Jasper's face looked annoyed and tired, due to the constant orders that Peridot and Lapis barked out at her.

Steven felt himself shrink back into his mattress, cringing at the Quartz standing over him. Lapis and Peridot shuffled out of the way as Jasper leaned down to gather little Steven into her large arms. She gently cradled him into her arms and held him close to her chest.

Steven felt like an ant compared to her, but by the way she was gently handling him with such care, Steven visibly relaxed. He never knew that this militaristic gem with an anger issue could be so... _tender_.

Steven thought back to the last time she man-handled him. She gripped him tightly by the collar and yanked him in the air, making him dangle uncomfortably, gasping for oxygen. But now, she was gently coddling him close to her bosom, much like he would imagine his own mother would do.

"Alright, we musn't waste time." Peridot announced as she made her way downstairs. Jasper grunted deeply, having Steven hearing it vibrate in her chest.

"C'mon, Jasper." Lapis said with an encouraging smile. She placed a calming hand on the small of the larger gem's back.

Jasper huffed, "I'm sick of her bratty attitude." She finally took a step forward an walked down the stairs carefully, heading towards the Temple Gate.

Steven began to examine the Temple Gate as he saw that there was something...different about it. The gate had the same symbol of a star on it, but the small gems inside of the star were much different than before. The star before had the colors of pink, pale blue, dark blue, red and purple. All of them in clockwise order.

Now the star was, pink, pale blue, indigo, green, and orange. Steven frowned, _'It's different here too,'_ he thought. He assumed that each color represented for each gem and their own room. The indigo color belonged to Lapis. The green belonged to Peridot. The orange to Jasper. The pink for his mother and himself. And the pale blue was for...

Steven's eyes narrowed in confusion. The pale blue looked exactly like _Pearl's_. Was that _still_ her room? Wait. If it is her room...then _why_ was it still there, or why hasn't it changed? Garnet and Amethyst's colors were replaced, so why not Pearls?

Steven's mind began to whirl as he tried to figure out what did that exactly mean. Why was Pearl's room still intact? What was so special about Pearl? Wasn't she thousands or so miles away from Earth? What was going on?

Suddenly, the green color of the Temple Gate suddenly flashed as Peridot suddenly activated it. The door opened up to a large room that looked very similar to what a science lab would be. Steven's eyes widened at the scy-fy like area in awe. He heard a sigh escape Jasper's mouth and she grumbled, "Let's get this over with."

Peridot walked in first and Jasper followed.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Haha I sure do love Jasper and Peridot! They're like Amethyst and Pearl, except Jasper is more willing to fight her instead of spitting out insults! This Chapter took a really long time to write! I hope you enjoyed it (even though I changed the title for this one haha)! Thank you for all your reviews and comments! I really appreciate them and enjoy reading them (LIKE ALL THE TIME).

So now I'm off to write the next chapter! It should be out by next week! If not next week then it will be definitely out before the Winter Holidays!

And I'm off to draw more fan art of this fic~!( I should definitely spend more time on the Chapters than that, but I love drawing so I don't think I can stop hahah)

Until next Time! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Happy New Year! Sorry again for the delay! My Christmas was very hectic and I was very very busy. I hope you all had a wonderful winter holiday or vacation! You all deserve it! And I shall give you your holiday gift with another chapter! This chapter has a lot of...details... or explanations that I hope you understand and don't get lost in. It might be boring because of the lengthy explanations, but it's all essential to the story, haha.

 **Replies:**

 **camdawg** : Thank You! I do like the Homeworld Gems too! I feel like if the Steven Crewniverse explored each of their relationships more like Peridot, they'd be a lot of fun and entertaining (that's just me though, hahah). And I can't answer that right now. All I can say is... maaaaaybeeee. Aw, haha, well Pearl was a little pain in my ass in the first few episodes, but I've grown to like her, but I understand how you feels haha!

 **Queen-of-Earth** : Shouldn't take that long my Queen! I hope I can satisfy you more! *bows*

 **FanficLovingPerson:** Thank YOU! I love your username btw!

 **Desire4Chocolates:** ! Thank you! :D

 **Lemon Fresh** : :0 Wow! Thank you so much, that means a lot! I'm glad you like my writing and think it's different! *Wipes tears*

 **Victoria Black** : ! Thank you! I'm glad! That's the reaction I was hoping for! haha!

 **WeAreTheCrystalGays:** :D!

 **I'm out of names:** Oh, sorry for the confusion. Yes, indigo can be depicted as a bluish purplish color, but not straight up blue or straight up purple haha. I didn't want to say 'blue' because I didn't want you guys to be confused with Sapphire's color on the Crystal Gate. And ... :D I'm sorry I can't answer all of those questions! Well not yet. My chapters will answer them I suppose! And.. I uh.. embarrassingly acted out and then drew out this fic and it's all based from that haha. Btw I love your morals haha.

 **StevenSquid** : B-baka! I'll give you more chapters all the time! /w/

 **Disclaimer** : Okay, Steven Universe does not belong to me, no matter how many times I asked Santa.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **CH5: Explanations**

Jasper settled Steven onto a large steel table that was in the middle of Peridot's room. It was ice cold to the touch making Steven gasp at the cold contact. It was such a drastic temperature change from his scorching body heat.

Steven looked around in the large room in interest. The room resembled much like Amethyst's. There were large crystals around the walls and floor. There was even waterfalls cascading down the walls, like how Amethyst's room did. Although this room shared some qualities of Amethyst room, it had its differences. One being that the room was tidy. Not a spec of trash or dirt could be found on the floor. Instead of piles of junk and massive hoarding. There were electronic devices placed neatly in their respectable places. There was a giant screen in nearby where Steven was laying. It looked just like the one from the Kindergarten, the same one that Peridot used to communicate with Steven for the first time. Right below the screen was a panel, that resembled a large like computer keyboard where Peridot was currently standing.

Peridot pressed a key, and said, "Regroup all flask robonoids to this location." A few moments passed until finally the door to Peridot's room opened, and a dozen of tiny flask robonoids marched into the room. Steven watched in interest as the robonoids scramble towards her in an orderly fashion.

Peridot looked up at Steven, "Okay, we shall start your usual check up– augh! _Jasper_! Don't touch that!" Peridot shrieked.

The orange gem was fiddling a foreign object while Lapis watched her in keen interest. Jasper looked up at her, like a kid being caught doing something wrong by their parent. Jasper slowly put the item back down and crossed her arms, giving a bored look. Lapis faced Peridot giving a small sheepish smile and clasped her hands behind her back.

Peridot gasped and marched over to where both gems were standing. She shoved them both out of the way and inspected the object that Jasper was fiddling with. She thoroughly checked if there were any damages before placing it back down. She whipped her head around and looked at both Jasper and Lapis and frowned,"How many times do I have to tell you two, to _not_ touch anything in here!" She hissed.

Jasper grunted before looking away and Lapis gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry, Peridot. We won't touch anything else."

Peridot narrowed her eyes at her comrades and stalked back towards Steven. Peridot sighed before looking back down at the half gem and asked, "Anyway...what seems to be your ailment, Steven?"

"Huh?" Steven asked.

Peridot sighed again, "I forgot about your lack of expansive diction..."

"She's asking what's wrong, Steven," Lapis clarified, walking towards them.

"O-oh...um..." Steven paused and looked at Peridot, "My whole body hurts... And I have a headache too..." He cringed.

Peridot frowned, "Seems like the common influenza virus that most humans succumb to."

Steven's eyes widened. What the heck was an influenza? It sounded like some type of rare and nasty disease! "What?" Steven whimpered.

"The influenza virus." Peridot repeated. Steven still looked very unsure at what Peridot was referring to.

"She's talking about the flu." Jasper said in a monotone voice. She joined the others and leaned on the sturdy table Steven was laying on, "If Peridot would speak like a person and not a robot, you'd be able to understand her more."

Peridot shot an annoyed glare at Jasper and walked over to the group of flask robonoids, "Robo-Two, conduct the standard computerized tomography scan on Steven Quartz Universe." She ordered. In a blink of an eye, one flask robonoid stepped forward from the group and began to crawl towards Steven. It jumped on the table and started to make a computerized noise. A soft glow of light projected from the robonoid and it swept slowly across Steven's body.

Steven just gulped and stayed still as the robonoid took its time scanning him. Peridot silently hovered over him, narrowing her eyes at the robonoid. Jasper stoically remained silent and Lapis looked warily at Steven. During the scan, a loud rumble erupted from Steven's stomach, catching all the gems off guard.

A small embarrassed blush dusted Steven's cheeks and he gave a small awkward chuckle, "I think I'm a little hungry..."

Jasper rolled her eyes and stared directly at Peridot, "I told you, feeding him only two times a day was nonsense." She accused.

Peridot's eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry I don't consume a plethora of food like you do. I assumed that Steven didn't eat like an obnoxious bovine like yourself."

Jasper narrowed her eyes back, "Who the hell you think you're calling a bovi–"

"Ok, that's enough." Lapis stepped in, lightly touching Jasper's shoulder. She turned to Steven and gave a small apologetic smile, "I think we just ran out of food yesterday, Steven. If you would like, Jasper and I can go to the store and pick you up something to eat."

Jasper eyes widened in shock, " _Jasper_ is most certainly _not_ going to the store!"

"What would you like, Steven?" Lapis asked, ignoring what Jasper said.

Steven looked around, thinking, "Um..can I have...a cheeseburger?" Steven asked.

"One cheeseburger for you, then," Lapis smiled, "We'll go grocery shopping to get all the ingredients while you and Peridot finish your check up–"

"What do you mean by _'we'_? I am not going to that gem-forsaken market!" Jasper seethed. It was pretty obvious that Jasper hated going grocery shopping and Steven couldn't quite understand why? What was so terrible at the grocery store?

"Well, it's the least you can do for eating all of Steven's yogurt the other day," Peridot piped in, giving a smug glance at the larger Gem. Jasper glowered at Peridot. If looks could kill, Peridot would already be in her grave right now.

"That's right, Jasper. It'll only be for about an hour–" Lapis tried.

"Any amount of time in that place is not worth me entering." Jasper sternly said.

"Jasper..." Lapis sighed annoyed. She finally shrugged her shoulders and turned around, "Fine. Stay here with Steven and Peridot while I'll go and get the groceries. But don't complain if I buy the wrong flavored protein shake mix you love so much."

Jasper stiffened as Lapis began to exit the room. She was having an inward battle between staying put for the sake of her pride or go with Lapis for the sake of her precious protein shake mix.

"You better go, Jasper. What would you ever do without your _beloved_ protein shake?" Peridot teased, snickering to herself. Somehow, Jasper glared even harder at Peridot, before turning on her heel and heading towards the exit. As she walked away, Jasper purposely went near the foreign item that she was fiddling with earlier and swatted it on the ground.

"Oops." Jasper said half-heartedly, earning a gasp from Peridot, and followed Lapis out the door.

Peridot scrambled to her item, picking it up and examined it for damages. She gently put it back where it belong before glaring at the door where Jasper just left out of.

"Um, Peridot?" Steven called, grabbing her attention.

"Yes?" She answered hotly.

"How long is this gonna take?" He asked, referring to the robonoid that was still scanning him.

Peridot walked over to the table that Steven was laying on and looked at the robonoid skeptically, "It doesn't usually take this long. But I assume it should be done any moment now." She said.

"Oh," Steven said. He wasn't sure what to say or do. Here he was with Peridot, a gem that he used to have so many questions for, but now was blank for any topic of conversation. He had no idea what they would possibly have in common, but Steven wasn't one for staying in silence, "Um...what's so special about a protein shake?" Steven asked.

Peridot looked at Steven and quirked a brow, "What?"

"I mean, Jasper must really like protein shakes, right?" Steven smiled.

Peridot gave an indifferent shrug, "Yes, she seems to have an urge to consume protein powder that condenses into a liquid."

"Why?"

Peridot rolled her eyes, "She has this obsession for staying _'fit'_ , so she constantly invests her time in strenuous, physical, activities, which includes drinking that substance. She got that inane idea from you father several years before you were born."

Steven blinked. He understood what Peridot was saying, but it was very hard for him to follow her long and complexed words. It was like she was speaking straight out of a dictionary, "Um...what does inane mean?" He asked sheepishly.

"It means stupid or silly." She answered. She walked over to her large computer keyboard and pressed a button. Suddenly the large over head screen above flashed and had a list of words scrolling down the screen. Peridot stared intensely at the words and turned around back to the robonoid that was still scanning Steven, "Why is this taking so long?" She mumbled to herself.

"How long does it usually take?" Steven inquired.

"About twenty seconds, but this has been going on for a few minutes now." She said. She put her robotic fingers on her chin, in deep thought. She turned back around towards the keyboard and typed in a few keys before suddenly the screen flashed a in giant red letters saying:

 **[ ERROR DURING CT SCAN** ]

Peridot narrowed her eyes and scoffed, "What does it mean, _error_? I conduct this procedure at least once a month!"

Steven visibly cringed. If things weren't going so smoothly, he wondered what could actually be the problem. He didn't want anything else to go wrong today.

"Computer, diagnose the core error of the computerized tomography scan." Peridot demanded. The screen juggled between multiple data logs and long scripts of words. Peridot calmly and silently read the words on the screen with a trained eye, accessing and comprehending the words at an extremely rapid pace. Steven, too, was trying to read the screen but was unsuccessful. From where he was laying, the words' font size were way too small to read. Just as he was able to recognize the first letter of the sentence, Peridot let out a surprised gasp.

Steven jumped, "W-what's wrong?" He asked. Did she really finish reading the information that fast?

"I-I don't..." Peridot mumbled. She typed in a couple of keys and then another large file of data with the heading that said **"ERROR REPORT"** engulfed the screen.

"Peridot?" Steven called, not sure what the problem was.

Peridot ignored his call and read over the screen once more. She read and reread the information, and gritted her teeth. An agitated growl escaped Peridot's throat, "This is wrong! This is a mistake! This can't be right!" She swiftly went over to Steven and plucked a single strand of hair from his curly locks. Ignoring his soft 'ow', Peridot walked back over to the keyboard and typed in a few keys before a small square compartment opened from a panel nearby. It looked like a podium where teachers or professors would lecture from, but instead of standard wood or metal, that it would usually have been made out of, it was incased with light green crystals.

Without hesitation, Peridot walked over to the panel and dropped Steven's strand of hair into the middle of the square compartment. The panel encased the strand with a small glass box and softly glowed green from beneath.

Steven watched intensely as Peridot hotly walked back to the screen, grumbling in the process. The screen quickly switched to a progress bar that said **"DNA SAMPLE SCANNING"**. Peridot just stood silently. Her back to Steven and tension heavy on her shoulders. Steven swallowed hard and stared at the back of Peridot's head. He was confused, and by the way Peridot's demeanor was shaping out to be, she was most likely in the same boat. Steven bit his bottom lip, thinking about what he should say...or what he should ask. Peridot knew more than him at the moment and he couldn't just stand idly by if there was something wrong with him.

"Peridot," Steven called again, but was only met with a sole robotic finger from Peridot, silently shushing him. Steven let out a disappointed frown. He's gotten that response one too many times from both Garnet and Pearl, and he knew it meant 'be quiet for a second'. So Steven remained quiet, waiting for Peridot and/or the screen above to elaborate on their current situation.

Suddenly the computer screen flickered again, this time to two images that were side by side together. It looked like two DNA strands. Steven saw the image before in some of his comic books but never really understood what they exactly were. All he knew was that it had to do with science and Peter Parker's DNA turned him into Spiderman with it. So the most logical explanation for the picture to be on the screen was that Steven was possibly turning into a superhero.

"What?" Peridot breathlessly said. Her back still faced Steven and her eyes glued to the screen.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked quietly.

Finally, Peridot slowly turned around, but her eyes never met his. They were looking everywhere else, distant and calculating, "Your DNA. It's not...It's..." She paused.

"Peridot?" Steven quietly called.

"It's ... _different_..." She muttered, her eyes narrowing at her feet.

" _Different_..." Steven repeated. His eyebrows pinched together and asked innocently, "And...that's _bad_?"

Peridot's eyes finally shot up to Steven. She let out an irritated hiss, "It's absolutely—one hundred percent—" Peridot's hands reached up to her hair and groaned, "There are no words to express it!"

Steven cringed at her elevated voice. Before he could ask again what was the issue, Peridot continued, "This is—I don't understand! Your DNA now differs from the one I've kept from you since your birth! It's impossible! It's—"

"It's bad?" Steven quietly piped.

Peridot looked at Steven in bewilderment, "YES. It's _bad_ , Steven! It's unnatural! I have no idea what it means!" She snapped.

"Then why is it bad?"

Peridot took a deep breath and closed her eyes, silently regaining her composure. She opened her eyes again, her eyes filled with concerned, "Steven. Your DNA – every human's DNA– is different. It's your personal identification. It's what makes you, you." She paused. She looked off and began thinking, "But now, your DNA is different. It has a different code. And I don't know what it means."

Steven's eyes narrowed and he frowned, confused, "Does that mean...I'm a different person?" He asked.

Peridot looked at the floor and then folder her arms across her chest, "I don't know."

The two stood in a silence. A silence that filled the air with uncertainty and tension. Peridot stood quietly, obviously in mid thought, trying to figure out a solution or some sort of understanding. Steven looked at Peridot, waiting for an answer. Steven wasn't sure what the big deal was. He still felt like he was himself. He knew who he was. He knew where he came from. He remembered his friends and family and how they shaped him to a loving and kind person that he knew he was. Even if where he was now was a complete illusion or quite possibly his reality, Steven still hung on to who he was and what he knew. Steven shook his head. He knew that his life wasn't fabricated. He knew Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst. He knew they were his family and that they were real. If it weren't for him touching the Versal Stone, he would still be with...

" _Wait!_ " Steven gasped, quickly gaining Peridot's attention, "Peridot, what do you know about the Versal Stone?"

Peridot's brow rose, "I know plenty."

"Do you think...maybe the Versal Stone switched my DNA or something?" He asked. Maybe it could clear some of the confusing things up for them both.

Peridot shook her head, "The Versal Stone wasn't designed for such a thing."

Steven's brows scrunched together, "What do you mean?"

Peridot rolled her eyes and groaned, "Steven, you know I loathe repeating myself."

"Repeat yourself? You never told me anything about the Versal Stone." He defended.

Peridot narrowed her eyes, "You asked me the very same question before we departed on the mission to search for the Versal Stone. Don't you remember?"

Steven frowned and shook his head, "I don't ever remember having a life with you or Jasper or Lapis." He said, "I mean, I did meet you guys before, but I never lived with you guys...or...known you as Crystal Gems."

"You—Wait...what do you mean that you've met us before?"

"Um..." Steven began, not sure how if his explanation was going to make sense to her, "Okay, like, the Crystal Gems and I confronted you, Lapis and Jasper before...but I never had like a real relationship with you guys. Well...Except Lapis. We were friends and I helped her go back to Homeworld."

"The Crystal Gems being...?" Peridot prompted, "The Gems you were referring to earlier? The Quartz...and Pearl?"

"Yeah, it's Amethyst, Pearl and Garnet. They're the last Crystal Gems and I lived with them." Steven said.

"But not us?" Peridot confirmed, "Not Jasper, Lapis and myself?"

Steven shook his head, "No. You guys were from Homeworld and we fought you guys before."

"Elaborate." Peridot said.

"Um...it's a long story..." He said, avoiding her eyes.

"We have time." Peridot said, standing akimbo, "Start from the beginning. Details are essential."

Steven blinked, "Where do you want me to start?"

"When you first started to live with those Gems until now."

Steven gulped, "Um okay." He began to the beginning from where she asked. He talked about living with his Dad and then transitioned to live with the the Crystal Gems. He briefly went over the missions he went on and how he learned little bits and pieces of his mother.

"I met you." Steven said after a brief pause, "You were at the Kindergarten and doing something there. Garnet smashed the Warp Pad into pieces after you left though. Then, I met Lapis. She was stuck inside of a mirror but I freed her and she flew away home. And then Jasper came..." He grimaced, "She came to Earth with you and Lapis and she almost killed us. She captured us and we were in space going to Homeworld but we escaped. But when we came back home, Jasper and Lapis fused into Malachite and Lapis dragged them into the ocean." He looked up thoughtfully.

His eyes traveled back down to meet Peridot's. A wave of confusion splashed her in the face, "That is...troubling..." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"I thought..." Peridot shook her head and looked off to the side, "What you were saying earlier about these Gems...I thought you were hallucinating. I didn't know that you were being serious." She admitted. She wasn't sure how to perceive the information of what Steven was giving.

"Oh um..." Steven looked around uncomfortably, "Well yeah. I'm sorry I don't have any memories of living with you..." He apologized.

Peridot made a clicking noise and cocked her head to the side, robotic fingers laying on her chin in deep thought.

Steven looked at her again, "But...the Versal Stone. I think..." He paused thinking, "Before I touched the Versal Stone, I was with Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst. We were looking for it."

"So were we," Peridot mumbled, "You, Jasper, Lapis and I were in search of the the Versal Stone." She said, narrowing her eyes.

"But... I found the stone. It was a reflection of me inside of it though..." He said, unsure.

Peridot's eyes narrowed into thin strips, "What do you mean a _reflection_?"

"Like...it was shiny and then I saw myself. Except the me inside of the stone had a mind of his own. We were talking—" Steven paused. He blinked and his eyes grew as wide as a saucer, and gasped, "He mentioned Lapis!"

"Lazuli?" Peridot inquired.

"Yeah! That's why I grabbed it in the first place..." Steven muddled in his thoughts, "He said that he wanted to show Lapis that he met me. He said it like she was with him." Steven's head was swimming with thoughts and possibilities. What if what was happening was true? What if Steven did live with Jasper, Peridot and Lapis? What if his father wasn't really on good terms with him? What if this whole world was the living breathing truth in which Steven existed in?

But what if he was just the _wrong_ Steven?

"What are you concluding?" Peridot asked, curious of what Steven was stringing together.

"The Steven that was in the Versal Stone. I think he lived with you guys!" Steven finally said.

" _'You guys'_ being...?" Peridot asked blandly.

"You, Jasper and Lapis. I think he lived with you guys! I think that he and I maybe...switched lives or DNA or something." He said. He wasn't sure if he had all the assorted details, but the core basis of what he was saying made sense. Well to him at least, "That's probably the reason why I don't have any memory of living with you guys and stuff."

Peridot stubbornly shook her head, "Improbable."

"Huh? Why?" Steven asked. He knew this idea was a stretch but he needed to have some hope. Some reason for what was going on before he lost his sanity.

"Because, the Versal Stone wasn't designed for such thing." She answered with a huff.

"What was it designed for?"

Peridot crossed her arms over her chest, eyes turning into a deep scowl as she looked nowhere in particular, "It was a destabilizing weapon for Gems that went rogue."

Steven's eyebrows pinched together, "Went rogue?"

Peridot finally met with Steven's eyes, "Yes. It was used to the equivalent to what humans would classify as the death penalty."

A sudden shiver rushed down Steven's spine. The topic about death in general usually always upset him in a way that his stomach would drop ten feet underground. And since he was already feeling like he was in the worst shape ever, the topic made him feel a lot worse. Despite this, Steven decided to push on to further detail, "How could the Versal Stone be like the death penalty?"

"The Versal Stone is one of the many stones that emits large quantities of energy, filled with light. A Gem is an organism who is an embodiment of light. When the two come in contact with one another, only a negative result will occur." She concluded.

"What negative effect?" Steven asked.

"Similar to what happened to you. Your body will be encased in light, ultimately destroying your Gem and your very existence." She breathed heavily, running a palm through her thick hair.

Steven only blinked, not understanding, "But... If it rids Gems, then why am I..."

"I'm assuming because you are half a Gem and half a human. Humans are not affected by any types of stones. That is why you are able to pick them up with ease or collect them." She paused and looked at the ceiling, "But, as soon as you touched it...the Versal Stone operated in reverse."

"Reverse?"

"Yes. When a Gem usually comes in contact with the Versal Stone, the light encases the user's gem, then swallows the body whole, ultimately erasing the Gem from existence. However, when you touched it, your body was consumed by the light first, then your gem." Peridot concluded.

"Oh." Steven said quietly, not sure what that –or any of this– meant. "I think, when the light touched my gem, it hurt...a lot."

Peridot's eyes reached his, and concern flashed across her face, "Your gem!" She said and rushed to his side. She lightly grabbed the hem of his shirt and began pulling it up while saying, "How could I be so transparent?! Thinking about everything else but your—"

She paused in mid sentence. Her mouth went agape, and her eyes widened the size of a pair of inflated balloons, "Oh my stars..." She gasped.

Worried, Steven squirmed to look at where Peridot was focused on, but failed due to his lack of strength, "What's wrong?" He panicked. Peridot said nothing, as her eyes strained on the Rose Quartz, embedded in his stomach. Steven strained and lifted his body up on his elbows. He looked past his raised shirt until he saw his gem.

Steven gasped in shock.

His gem, wasn't the normal pink hue, instead, it was a cloudy haze of white with swirl-like designs, much like the ones on Jasper's skin, covering the facets.

Steven's mouth went dry and his mind went blank. It was obviously an unusual sight. The lovely pink that both Steven and Rose shared, was gone, and was only the eerie, misty, color floating around in his gem.

"P-Peridot," Steven called, not really sure why he called on her. Maybe because of her expansive knowledge, or calculative demeanor was his reasoning, but for now, he was drawing up blanks.

"R-Robo-Two, do a quick diagnostic report on this Rose Quartz gem." Peridot ordered.

The taut robonoid jumped onto Steven's legs and crawled next to his stomach where his gem was placed. The robonoid, once again, emitted a scanner that had a soft green glow, directing it only on Steven's gem.

Peridot whipped around and went to her panel and typed in a few keys. The overhead screen displayed a data log, that had a percentage of what was being scanned. The scan went rather quickly, compared to the scan they did earlier, and almost immediately, the scan was complete. A sudden window popped up on the screen, displaying paragraphs of information on the screen.

With a carefully trained eye, Peridot quietly read each sentence with incredible speed. She read and reread each sentence, and each time, her already opened mouth seemed to hang lower and lower.

"What," Peridot's voice hitched a few octaves. It wasn't a question, but just a flat out statement, that clearly captured her confusion.

"Peridot," Stevens voice trembled with fear. Peridot didn't respond. "Peridot, what's wrong? What is this? _Please_ , talk to me!" Steven begged.

Peridot slowly and robotically turned around to face Steven. Steven wasn't sure what was worse, the color of his gem or that absolute distant and lost look on Peridot's face.

She didn't look him in the eye, she looked directly beyond him, saying, "The Versal Stone."

Steven frowned. He wetted his lips and swallowed some saliva, "What?"

"The Versal Stone," She repeated, "It's inside your gem."

* * *

 **A/N:**

Sorry for the cliff-hanger hahah. This chapter was gonna be a lot longer but I didn't want to make you guys wait any longer hahah!

If you're still confused about the function of the Versal Stone, don't worry, Peridot's working on it! Give her time!

Next chapter should be fun, there should be a lot of Lapis Lazuli involved, for those of you who likes her mom swapped interaction with Steven.

Anyway, Happy New Year! I'll try to put another chapter up a lot quicker, and I do **love** the **reviews** to keep encouraging me!

Thank you! Until Next Time!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hello! This chapter was _sooooo_ long. Mainly because it's pretty much two chapters wrapped into one. Which takes my usual time of 1-2 weeks to publish to 2-4 weeks. I was thinking about splitting these chapters into two but I didn't want to leave you guys on _ANOTHER_ cliffhanger.

Like I said, this chapter has to deal a lot with Lapis. SO if you like Lapis, I hope you enjoy! If you don't...well why DON'T YOU!? She's a really cool character!

 **FYI: There will be flashbacks throughout this story. A _LOT_ of flashbacks (based on how I planned this story) and you'll know if it's a flashback because it will be this ****~o O o~** **and everything will be italicized.**

 **Replies:**

 **I'm out of names** \- Thank you thank you! ONE DAY KNOWING THAT STEVEN WILL BE OKAY...FILLS YOU WITH _DETERMINATION_!

 **camdawg -** yeaH! I feel you! I think that Steven needs some credit! And that's a goood thought and idea! :3

 **Stevenuniversefanficislife -** I'm so sorry that I left you on that cliffhanger! And yess! I love Peridot (and the other Homeworld Gems) "Don't touch my things!"

 **littlealexmartinez61910 -** I'm so glad you like my story, and I;m so sorry for the slow update, BUT...I got you a double length chapter! That's good right? :)

 **20Last-Sparkle-01 -** I know, I just gave more questions, but it's a magical journey! there will be LOADS of questions mwahah! And yes, the Jasper thing will be explained (but not this chapter)...glad that you picked up on that~! :D

 **WeAreTheCrystalGays -** D:

 **Guest** \- :0 AN OSCAR? *sniffs* I've never been nominated for an oscar before!

 **cristofer25** \- :3 How bout I give you a very LONG uPDATE?!

 **A Lights Shadow -** I'm glad you like this story :)

 **KillJoyGem** \- I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Just for you, I've updated it and it's twice as long! ;3

 **Guest (2) -** A walking death machine? I like the sound of that (mwahah) And beefy cheeto puff gots to stay tough!

 **Nick son of Apollo -** The best Steven Universe story you've read so far? Oh wow thank you!

 **Pegalover -** :0 ... I think that review is very magical! I'm so glad for the Steven Bomb! Steven's like 14! And Peri is so cute! :D

 **Guest (3) -** :) I'm so glad you like this story! I hope you enjoy! :D

Please enjoy this (really) long chapter! I know I enjoyed writing it! :)

 **Disclaimer:** Steven Universe belongs to Rebecca Sugar!

 **End A/N**

* * *

 **CH6: A Vacation**

 _Different._

That was the word that described him.

Everything about him, and the situation he was in, was absolutely _different_. According to Peridot, his DNA differed from previous data entries. His relationship with the new Gems were different. His gem itself was different.

But he didn't feel different.

In all seriousness, Steven knew what it felt like to be suddenly different.

The time he tried to throw the Crystal Gems a birthday party was probably a big instance where he felt different. He didn't feel like himself. He felt older that time, and more mature, compared to what he usually feels like. A carefree kid.

But now, he didn't feel any different, biologically speaking. He felt like himself. However, Peridot tells him otherwise...

Steven sighed and slouched a little in his chair, looking hopelessly down at his Cookie Cat cereal. He wasn't feeling all that hungry, which was a first, because Steven was always up to eat a snack, especially with Cookie Cat's face on it.

Steven frowned.

Okay, maybe he _was_ feeling a little different from his carefree, happy, demeanor, but it was all because of how confused he was at the situation he was in.

It's been four days since his check up with Peridot, and there has been little to no progress to discover the reason why, and how the Versal Stone was inside of Steven's gemstone. Peridot hypothesized that Steven absorbed the stone inside his gem, much like when a Gem would store actual objects in their gemstone. Steven recalled that Pearl demonstrated that quite frequently, but Steven never used the ability himself. It was a good theory, however, that's all what that was: _a theory._

The Versal Stone, explained briefly by Peridot, was a gem tool to erase Gems from existence. Instead of the common practice of just shattering Gems, the Versal Stone was a quick way to disintegrate Gems into nothingness. Not a shred or shard left behind, just in case someone knew how to revive their pieces. If the Versal Stone's excessive light energy were to come in contact with a Gem – an embodiment of light – the only thing bound to happen was a negative effect. Such negative effect is the Gem being incinerated from a mere touch.

The only thing that was odd about this predicament was the horrifying fact that the Versal Stone was inside of the Rose Quartz gem. If the effects were so disastrous like Peridot mentioned, Steven's gemstone should have had a negative effect by now, such as the gem itself being in some type of distress. There was no split or cracking. Not melting or decomposing. The Versal Stone was just simply sitting inside of Steven's stone, as if it belonged there.

Something obviously wasn't adding up.

Steven blinked at his now, soggy bowl of cereal, restlessly. He had been awake for the past few nights because of the constant questions plaguing his mind, trying to make some sense of the Versal Stone. Well...that _and_ because Peridot constantly brought him back to her room to run more tests. And being in a bright room in the middle of the night really tired out his eyesight.

Steven blinked at his cereal again. It had been sitting there for so long that it had to be disgusting by now. Super soggy cereal was going to ruin his already slow morning. Actually, his morning was pretty much ruined by his sore muscles weighing down on him. Steven sighed and picked up his spoon. He sloshed the mushy cereal around, wondering if he could take a nap right here in the kitchen. He stifled a yawn and his eyes began to drop, slowly nodding off, while staring at his cereal. If he wasn't so sleepy, he could've sworn the milk in his bowl was...rising.

Steven blinked and rubbed his eyes. He looked back down at his cereal and saw that the milk had ascended a few inches from his bowl, and had formed into - what looked like - a hand! Steven gasped and jumped back, falling out of his chair and onto the floor, frightened.

"Oh! Steven!" a voice said from the other side of the kitchen. The milk suddenly sloshed back into the bowl like someone dropped it, "I didn't mean to scare you!" A panicked Lapis gasped. Steven looked up and saw the blue clad gem hovering above him, trying to help him off of the floor.

"That was you?" Steven mumbled. It finally dawned on him that Lapis could control water...or liquid? Both?

"Sorry," Lapis gave a small apologetic smile, "I was talking to you and you weren't responsive. I tried to grab your attention."

Steven finally managed to get back onto his feet and he returned her smile with a sheepish grin, "Well it worked."

"Are you okay? Have you been feeling any better?" She asked, worried.

It had been no secret to both Lapis and Jasper, of what Steven and Peridot discovered inside his gemstone. Peridot immediately told Jasper and Lapis that this Steven wasn't the same Steven they knew. He was a completely different Steven from another world. A Steven that grew up with different Gems and that Peridot, Lapis and Jasper, were more like rivals or enemies that had tried to defeat or kill Steven before.

It had been a shock to both Jasper and Lapis, hearing the odd news. They asked numerous questions, many of which Peridot couldn't answer at that time. The questions being _"How did the Stevens switch places?"_ Or, _"Is the other Steven safe? If so, where is he?"_ Another being, _"How do we get the Versal Stone out of him?"_ And the most serious question, _"Will the Versal Stone kill him?"  
_  
Although Peridot didn't have any answers to these questions, she was more than determined to answer them all within due time. However, this required Peridot to sequester herself in her room for the past few days, doing constant research on the Versal Stone. Although she'd never admit it, Peridot's basic knowledge of the Versal Stone was a little more than outdated, to say the least. The knowledge she proclaimed to have about the Versal Stone was at least 5,000 years old. The last she was given the most recent information about the Versal Stone was way back when she was a common Peridot on Homeworld. And even back then, she was only given basic information about it. Her managers or superiors didn't bother going into great detail of the Versal Stone's history and what it was originally made for. They only told her the information it was used for on Homeworld, which was a new and improved, execution device.

Nevertheless, Peridot promised the Crystal Gems that she would answer their questions in great detail after a few days of hardcore research and studying. The only thing for Gems to do now, was to wait patiently as Peridot worked her magic.

"I'm...hanging in there..." Steven finally answered, stifling a yawn, "My body still hurts and my headache is still there." Steven admitted.

Lapis frowned, "Peridot said she was working on some pill or muscle relaxer to make your pains go away, but..." She paused looking at the Crystal Gate, "Who knows how long that will take. Especially when she's so invested in the Versal Stone."

It was true. Peridot did promise Steven to make a special type of medicine to ease his aches and pains. Steven asked time and time again if he should just take Tylenol or Advil, like his dad used to give him if he had and muscle pains before, but Peridot simply replied, _'This isn't an organic problem.'_ Whatever that meant.

"Hopefully it's soon..."Steven responded, pitifully. He looked and felt ill. With the lack of sleep and the soreness around his body, how could he feel like anything but terrible?

"Steven are you okay?" Lapis asked again, concerned. She knelt before him and placed the back of her hand on his forehead, "Have you been staying hydrated?"

Steven nodded, tiredly. Lapis was always so worried about him staying hydrated. He figured that, since she could control water, that's what interested her the most, "I'm just tired..." He said.

Lapis frowned, "Have you not been getting enough sleep at night?"

Steven shook his head, "Peridot calls me at night and takes me in her room to run tests. It's kinda hard to sleep on that cold table."

Lapis narrowed her eyes instinctively, "Well that's not okay. You need rest, Steven. How else are you going to feel better if you aren't getting any–"

Suddenly, the Crystal Gate opened, grabbing both Steven and Lapis' attention. Peridot emerged from her room, carrying a worn out textbook, with a flask robonoid beside her. She took a few steps forward, about to activate the Warp Pad before Lapis stopped her.

"Peridot, where are you going?" She asked.

Peridot arched an eyebrow, and answered, "What's it look like?" She held up the textbook as if Lapis couldn't see it before, "I don't know where _you've_ been for the last few days, but _I'm_ the person trying to figure out more information about the Versal Stone. I have to find the fourth edition of this book at the Liber Spire to conduct further analyzations." She explained.

"What's the Liber Spire?" Steven piped.

"It's a location where there is a collection of archives and socially advanced laboratories for the use of expanding the capabilities of Gem knowledge," Peridot said proudly.

Steven blinked, "Um...what...exactly is it?"

"It's a Gem library, Steven," Lapis said simply.

"Ohh.." Steven giggled a little, only earning a frustrated sigh from Peridot. She mumbled something about buying a thesaurus for Steven someday. Before she activated the Warp Pad, Lapis called for her again.

"Wait! Peridot!"

"What?" Peridot answered annoyed.

"Have you come up with any way to help Steven with his aches?" She asked.

"If I did, I would've given it to him," She answered facetiously.

"What I meant was, are you close to finishing this medicine?" She asked.

"I sent Jasper to Rose's Garden to gather the last remnants of Rose's healing tears. It's one of the last ingredients I need to prepare the medicinal drug." Peridot answered, "If you're still feeling unwell, Steven, I suggest you should relax and don't do anything strenuous, especially on your Gem."

And with that, Peridot warped away with her flask robonoid, before Lapis questioned her any further. Lapis sighed annoyed. She really had to tell Peridot that waking Steven up in the middle of the night was definitely not okay, especially when he wasn't feeling well.

"Hey," Steven said, snapping Lapis' attention to him, "What does she mean the remnants of my mom's healing tears? Isn't there like...a huge fountain that has pools of her tears?" He asked.

Lapis nodded, "Yes. That's what it used to be before the attack of Rose's Garden. The attack had cut off all Rose's tears from flowing to the fountain. There is only about a liter or so left. We would only use a drop or two for emergencies, to salvage it. "

Steven's eyes widened in shock. He can't take the last of the tears! Not when there was an infinite amount in his own world! If it was for their own emergencies, then he could definitely endure the pain longer, "I can't take those tears! What if you guys need it?!"

Lapis blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Those are you guy's tears! I can't just _take_ them! They're for you guys if you're in an emergency–"

"Steven," Lapis gave a lovely smile, "Those are your mother's tears. If she were here, now, she would give you all her tears in a heartbeat, emergency or not. She would expect us to do the same for you." She said sweetly.

Steven's eyebrows knitted together, worried, "Really?"

Lapis nodded, "Yes. Besides, we rarely have accidents. The last time one of us cracked a Gem was when we found Peridot, and that was so long ago." She giggled, "So, you don't have to worry about us getting into some type of trouble, okay?"

Steven bit his lip, not fully convinced. He really hoped what Lapis was saying was true but, all he could do was feel guilty. What if they needed to be healed? He could always use his healing spit in a situation though, but what if it didn't work like that other time he tried? No, it had to work the next time. It was the least he could do for them when the time came, to help them, especially when they've shown so much care for him in the past few days.

Steven nodded and gave a small smile, "So, um...who destroyed the Fountain?" He asked curiously. The smile that graced Lapis' lips slowly faded, "Ah, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it," She said as she stood.

Steven frowned just a bit. He wondered who would attack such a beautiful sanctuary? One that belonged to his mother, at that. Not to mention, it was a place where you can be healed. Why would you destroy something so beneficial?

"So, Steven," Lapis said. Steven looked up to meet her sweet gaze, "Since you've been bedridden and stuck in the house for nearly a week, how about you and I take a little vacation, hm?"

Steven's eyebrows perked up with interest, "A _vacation_?"

Lapis nodded with pure joy, "A vacation," she confirmed.

Steven's eyebrows frowned a bit, "Do you think Peridot will be okay with that? I mean...she doesn't really want me to do anything but relax..." He tried. Peridot made it clear after she discovered the Versal Stone in his gem, Steven was not allowed to go very far from the Temple (not that he actually left the Temple for almost the past week).

Lapis scoffed, "Peridot isn't here to dictate that. Besides..." Lapis gave a mischievous smile, "The place where I'm going to take you, is a secret place."

Steven's eyes lit up and small stars seemed to appear in his eyes. Sick or not, Steven was always a sucker for 'secret' things. Especially when those said secret things were to include him. "A secret place?" He beamed.

Lapis nodded with a sly smile, "Not to mention that you'll be able to relax there too, so technically, you'll be able to follow Peridot's instructions." She said knowingly.

Steven would jump for joy if he could, "That sounds awesome! Can we go right now?" He asked excitedly, with newly expressed enthusiasm coursing through his body.

"Of course we can. However, I think you should grab your jacket first. It can be a little chilly where we're headed, and I don't want you to feel worse than you already do." She said. She turned on her heel, heading towards the Warp Pad.

"Oh, okay, be right there!" Steven said eagerly. He went to the living room where his jacket was, laying neatly on the couch. He grabbed it, slipping it on and headed to the Warp Pad, where Lapis was waiting for him. He stood beside her and smiled, silently telling her that he was ready to go.

Lapis smiled back and activated the Warp Pad. A stream of light surrounded them both, warping them to the destination that Lapis selected.

The duo fazed in front of, what seemed to resemble, the bottom of a canyon. The atmosphere was hazy with pink rose bushes and blue bellflowers making a pathway towards a very large mountain.

Steven looked around in amazement, "Wow, Lapis! This place is so pretty!"

He heard Lapis laugh a little, "I'm glad you think so, Steven, but this very spot isn't our destination." She said, walking off of the Warp Pad. Steven followed after and asked, "This isn't the secret place?"

Lapis shook her head, "Nope. The secret place is up there." Lapis said pointing at the very top of the mountain.

Steven looked up and his face immediately deflated. The mountain was so far up that he couldn't even see the top of it. It was surrounded with a hazy pink cloud, and even if he could see past the haze, he still wouldn't be able to see to top of the mountain.

"Oh, man..." Steven sighed with disappointment. He was so not ready to climb a bunch of steps up a mountain. He wish he had his pet goat-son, Steven Jr. to carry him.

Lapis turned her attention to Steven and frowned, "What's wrong Steven?"

Steven sighed again and shook his head, "Nothing. I guess we should get going." He said, trying to hide his sour expression, "Where's the steps towards the mountain?"

Lapis blinked a few times before laughing at him, "What do you mean, 'steps'? There are no steps here." She giggled.

Steven's eyebrows rose, "Then how are we supposed to get up there?"

"You think I'm going to make you climb up this mountain?" She asked amused.

Steven's face flushed slightly with embarrassment and gave a sheepish grin, "I dunno..." He shrugged.

Lapis shook her head and smiled, "No, no, Steven. I'm not gonna make you climb up there. Especially when you're not feeling well. I'm going to fly us up there."

Steven's eyes widened with anticipation. He had almost forgotten that Lapis had the ability of flight! How cool was it for a Gem to be able to fly without shape shifting?

"Oh, okay!" Steven said excitedly, "I'm ready to go when you are!"

Lapis smiled again before picking Steven up with incredible ease, and placing him awkwardly on her hip, " _Mmph_ ," she mumbled out, "You've sure have gotten big. Last time I held you like this, you were a little baby," she chuckled, "Hang on tight." She ordered. Steven wrapped his arms around her shoulders and clutched his legs against her waist.

Lapis slightly bent her knees, while her gem formed her beautiful water wings on her back. She jumped up with much grace and fluidity, that Steven almost didn't realize that they had left the ground. The only way he knew that they were flying was because of the wind whipping violently across his face. Lapis was flying so fast that the air was echoing quickly in his eardrums. Steven closed his eyes at the unforgiving wind and buried his face in the crook of Lapis' neck.

Lapis tightened her grip on Steven and flew even faster. She flapped her wings in long strides to get to the top of the mountain as quickly as possible, "Almost there," Lapis said as she flapped. Within twenty seconds of her saying that, she slowed down her momentum until they came to a halt.

Steven finally looked up from Lapis neck and discovered a couple of things. Firstly, it was very cold. So cold that he could she the breath escaping from his lips. Secondly, the scenery that they were slightly hovering over was even more beautiful than the scenery in the canyon below. The forms of the mountain was beautiful. It was sculpted delicately by the will of mother nature. Instead of the top of the mountain being just a pointy top, there was a crater indented in the middle filled with a violet color of water.

Lapis lowered them to the edge of the mountain where they could safely walk on. She placed Steven on the ground and he silently explored the new area. Steven mumbled small 'woah's' and 'wow's' as he took in the beautiful scene.

"Welcome to my Secret Oasis," Lapis smiled at Steven, to her delight, was in wonderful awe.

Steven looked toward the pinkish-violet colored water and noticed that there was steam emitting from it, "I didn't know that you were taking me to a hot spring! I would've brought my swim trunks." Steven pouted.

Lapis smiled, "It's not your normal hot spring, Steven." She walked over towards the edge of the spring and dipped her hand into the warm water, "Even though this is water, whatever comes in contact with it remains dry when it departs." She explained. She took her hand out of the illusive water and showed Steven. Steven inspected her hand and was amazed at what he saw. It was true! Her hand was dry, despite her putting it in the water.

"Wow," Steven said, truly amazed. He looked down at the water and decided to dip his hand in it too. The water was warm and inviting, making him want to jump in and enjoy the warmth. However, Steven pulled out his hand and inspected it, just like he did with Lapis'. Just like before, his hand was completely dry, there was no evidence of moisture even touching his hand.

Steven laughed, "This is so cool! I can just go in the water with my clothes on!"

Lapis gave out a soft chuckle and nodded, "Not to mention, it's incredibly cold up here. There wouldn't be a real reason to get undressed." She slowly but casually walked into the spring and settled down into the warm water. The water reached past the middle of her torso, keeping her bust free from any water. Lapis flashed Steven and encouraging smile, "Come on in, Steven."

Steven returned her smile with an enthusiastic grin. He kicked off his sandals and lightly pricked the warm water with his big toe to test the temperature. He then tested the water with his whole foot, then leg, then eventually he submerged his entire body in the spring, sighing at the inviting temperature. The water felt good on his aching muscles, that now he hardly felt anymore.

"Feels good, huh?" Lapis giggled.

"Yeah! This water is perfect! If all water was like this, I don't think I'll ever take off my clothes to swim again!" He laughed, and Lapis joined in, laughing too.

"So, no one knows about this spring? Just you?" Steven asked curiously.

"Just me...and you of course," She smiled, however, her smile didn't reach her eyes, making it feel like it was not genuine.

Steven frowned and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, "How did you find it?"

Lapis blinked and gave a nervous smile, "Well...I didn't find it, per-say. It was uh...more of an accident."

Steven's eyebrows furrowed, "An accident?" He inquired. Absentmindedly, Steven felt something in his jacket pocket. It felt small and metallic. Steven gasped and pulled the object out of his pocket, bringing it out of the water.

"Steven, what's wrong?" Lapis asked.

Steven's eyes widened slightly as he showed Lapis what was in his hand, "It's my camera," he muttered, in a small state of shock.

"Your camera?" Lapis asked, "When did you have a camera?"

Steven shook his head, "It was my dad's camera. He leant it to me before I went with the Gems to look for the Versal Stone..." Steven's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion, "It was in my pocket...?"

"When we brought you back home after the stone incident. We took off your jacket and placed it on the couch while we put you in bed." She said cautiously, "I didn't know you had a camera in your pocket."

Steven didn't reply as he pressed the power button on his camera. Despite the water it was in, the device flickered on and the digital screen enhanced its brightness for the user. Steven pressed a side button that made the screen flicker to a picture he had taken earlier. It was a photo of the pile of stones he took when he and Garnet were searching for the Versal Stone.

"I almost forgot about these pictures," Steven said quietly.

"Did you take these before you touched the Versal Stone?" Lapis asked. Steven nodded as he pressed the skip forward button. The screen flickered to the first photo that was ever taken. It was a picture of his father.

"Oh, it's Greg," Lapis said. She muffled a small giggle, "Well, a younger version of him."

Steven gave a small smile. It was a picture of his dad, a lot younger than he was now. His hair and beard was a light brown and he still had tufts of hair on the top of his head. He was smiling appreciatively at the camera, showing off his pearly whites, "This was when he first got his camera. He won it in a raffle." Steven said fondly, remembering the story of how his father spent three dollars on a raffle ticket at the annual Beach City Parade.

Steven pressed the skip button, and the next image flickered to life. It was a picture of Greg and Rose. Greg was posing dramatically at the camera while Rose seemed to be laughing at him. Steven's smile spread as he saw the image of both his parents. He had seen the image before, but he always was affected by seeing his late mother, especially when she was smiling.

"That's a nice photo." Lapis said quietly. Steven glanced at Lapis, giving her a satisfied grin before he looked back down at the photo. He examined the picture for a few moments longer and then finally went to the next photo.

It was a picture of Garnet and Amethyst. Amethyst stuck her tongue out playfully at the camera while Garnet just stood stoically, not giving away any emotion.

"Who's that?" Lapis asked.

"Oh," Steven said, nearly forgetting about Lapis' not knowing about his Crystal Gems. He pointed to Garnet, "That's Garnet. And that's Amethyst."

"Ah, these were the Gems you used to live with, right?" Steven nodded, and Lapis continued her observation. "A fusion and a– what looks like a..." Lapis' eyebrow rose as she inspected Amethyst's form, "Is she a Quartz?"

Steven raised his eyebrows, confused by her question, "No, she's just Amethyst," he said.

"No, no," Lapis shook her head, "I mean her Gem type–" she paused, "err... Uh never mind, you wouldn't understand." She waved off.

Steven looked at her skeptically before shrugging it off, and went onto the next photo. This time it was a photo of Pearl who had her back to the camera, with her head turned to glare unappreciative at the camera. Before Steven had a chance to explain who she was, Lapis already said, "Pearl."

"Oh yeah. That's Pearl." Steven nodded, "You know her, right?"

Lapis' eyes narrowed and were distant, "Once before," was all she said.

Steven didn't want to pry, but he was itching for answers. All of the little clues that was a part of Pearl's whereabouts in this world was not being put together. These Gems knew of Pearl's existence, but they were not keen on elaborating anymore about her or where she was at the moment. And with Lapis' vague answer, Steven thought it was best to drop the subject for now.

Steven flipped through the photos on his camera. The next few photos were just a bunch of instruments that his dad purchased throughout the years. A guitar, some drums and a few other musical items that were now stowed away in storage.

He scrolled through more images and he found some silly photos. One of Amethyst poking Pearl's oh-so-pointy nose, earning an exasperated shock look on Pearl's face. Next a picture of Greg struggling to pick up a 100lb combined weight while to the left of him, Garnet was easily picking up two with great posture; not even breaking a sweat. A picture of Greg sleeping while Amethyst drew doodles on his face. Another picture of Garnet and Amethyst in an intense an arm wrestling match, judged by Greg who was very interested in which Gem would be the victor.

As Steven scrolled through the pictures, Lapis remained quiet, calmly looking over his shoulder and inspecting the figures in the photos. Steven stopped at a picture of Greg and Rose's silhouette on the beach. The sun was setting and Greg and Rose were near the water. You couldn't see their faces, but you could make out their forms. Rose was slightly bent over, as she was giving Greg a loving kiss. It was a romantic scene that you'd probably only find in cheesy movies, but this photo was real and genuine. It melted Steven's heart, every time when he looked at the photo of his parents.

"They truly did love each other," Steven heard Lapis say. He slightly turned and saw her smile timidly, "When Rose told me she was in love with Greg, I didn't understand..." She said. She looked up at the sky in deep thought, "I still don't think I completely understand...to love another being. To care _deeply_ enough for another person..."

Steven looked back down at the photo and bit his lower lip, unsure of what to say. The Crystal Gems—his Crystal Gems understood what the concept of love was. Garnet herself was an embodiment of love from both Ruby and Sapphire. Even he, himself, was sort of like Garnet in a way. He was born of love from both his mother and father. He thought about how he could explain it to Lapis but she spoke first.

"But...in a way, I kind of...do understand how to love someone. Someone else...to have deep emotion and care for someone else," she gave a small pause and looked at Steven's round eyes, "Unfortunately, I just started to get a small understanding of it, as soon as she was gone..."

Steven swallowed, unsure where this conversation was going, "Who did you...start to love?" He asked pensively.

Lapis smiled brightly and weaved her fingers into his curly locks of hair affectionately, much like what Garnet usually did, " _You_ , Steven."

Steven's eyes turned into stars, and he gave her a small smile, "Me?"

"Of course," She smiled, "When you were born, I knew it was my duty to protect and care for you. You were constantly kept at the Temple when you were an infant, that I taught myself how to care for you like a human mother would have." She said.

Steven's face deflated a bit, "My dad wasn't there for me as a baby?"

Lapis inwardly cringed, "Your dad...had conflicting feelings about you—I mean, don't get me wrong, Steven, your father loves you. Don't _ever_ question that," She said sternly, "Your father just had a difficult time after you were born, that he couldn't handle the added pressure of raising a baby."

"But you did?"

"Well..." Lapis flushed a bit embarrassed, "No. It was new to all of us...raising a baby. Jasper and Peridot were too... _dense_...to know how to take care of you, so I took it among myself to learn how to handle you." She answered, "It wasn't an easy task, especially when Gems weren't tasked with handling infants."

"How did you teach yourself?" Steven asked, curiously.

"Books," Lapis said simply, "But most of the time I had to figure it out in puzzles."

"Puzzles?" Steven asked.

Lapis laughed a bit, " Oh, yeah. Raising you was a bunch of 'trial and errors'. Well, at least, that's how Peridot put it. I remember the first time taking you up here."

Steven's eyes widened, "You took me here before?" Lapis nodded, "Why? What's so special about this Secret Oasis that you took me here?"

Lapis smiled, "This spring, like I said, isn't your normal hot spring," She said. She looked into the deep end of the pool of pinkish-violet water, "This spring can relieve muscle pains, aches, and illnesses."

Steven's jaw went slack and he looked down at the discolored water. What Lapis said must have been true. Ever since Steven stepped inside of the water, his headache and muscle pains dulled, and he practically felt numb, "That's why you took me here?" Steven inquired. He only earned a small smile from Lapis, insinuating a positive answer. Steven placed his camera back into his jacket pocket then threaded his fingers through the mysterious water, "I wonder where this water came from…"Steven asked rhetorically.

"Well…" Lapis started, "This water is an extension from me and your mother," She paused, "This was the first place where she and I fused."

Steven's eyes were as wide as small saucers, "You two, fused?" He gasped. There weren't many stories that Steven heard of about his mother fusing with someone else. And his mother - Rose Quartz, leader of the Crystal Gems - fusing with a powerful Gem like Lapis, would be an amazing story to hear. Luckily for Steven Lapis was willing to share her experience.

"I was… going to wait and tell you this story once Peridot taught you about fusion. But...since you already know about fusion, I guess I could tell you about the time I fused with Rose," She paused and smiled sadly, "Besides, I can still tell this story to the Steven that you traded places with, once he learns about fusion."

"Yeah," Steven beamed, ready to hear the story already. Lapis took his cue and began the story.

"Okay, well, it was a few hundred years ago. Beach City...wasn't even a City yet. I was…having a difficult time controlling the tides near the Temple…"

 **~o O o~**

 _The tides were reaching the bottom of the Temple. Too much to control and too much to ignore. The Earth always did react in such strange and mysterious ways. Peridot mentioned that the Earth's tides were controlled by the moon of some sort, but I never truly understood it. It's not like I could control the moon whenever I wanted._

 _The winds from the ocean, breezed through my shoulder length hair. The tides were reaching up to my waist now, and touching the edges of the Temple. I sighed. I've been out here for nearly two hours and I still couldn't get the hang of controlling the Earth's ocean! It's so frustrating and exhausting. Controlling all this water is taking a lot of mental strength. And using mental strength for nearly two hours straight is a definitely a strain. Why did Rose have to build her base near the ocean?_

 _I feel something slither against my foot. I look down and find a colorful creature with...multiple arms, wrap around my ankle. I've seen this creature before… I think Peridot told me that the humans referred to it as an...octo-pie... in the marine biology books she's picked up. I wish I had the luxury to read books like Peridot, but I simply do not have the time. I haven't had any time to leisurely enjoy this planet during and after the war. I'm too busy handling the many bodies of water, bubbling stray Corrupted Gems, and rescuing humans from multiple catastrophes. So, reading is definitely not on my top priorities list at the moment. Not to mention I have to actually learn how to read the symbols that humans claimed to be their language. The most popular language being 'english' is what I have yet to learn how to read. I guess with the help of Peridot and maybe some humans, I'll be able to learn within due time…_

 _I sigh. I've been on this planet for nearly 4,000 years and I still feel like an 'alien' (what the humans call it) on this turf._

 _The creature used its suctions on the bottom of its leg to securely wrap around me, and it's body color began to change the same as my skin._

 _Interesting._

 _Peridot failed to mention this ability with the octo-pie. Even though I'm interested in this new found ability, it can't stay latched onto me for very long. I bend down and remove it from my leg. It's twitching and squirming in my grasp. It's... charming...looking. I smile. I like this odd creature. It wrapped one of its legs on my hand, attempting to attach to me again._

" _No, no." I say, "You need to return back to the bottom of the ocean. There will be more resources for you there." I say more to myself than it. I wish I could keep it. It's such an intriguing being._

 _I put it further in the water and using worn out willpower, I mentally push the waves away from the shore. The water is heavy. So heavy that it feels like it's resisting me. However, I manage to regain a little control and push the tides further and further back. The water went down and soon it receded from my waist and down to my lower shins._

 _The water level was still pretty high, but at least it wasn't touching the bottom of the Temple._

" _But, it will return," I say bitterly, glaring at the ocean. It's not completely dark, yet; the sun is trying to disappear, but the moon has yet to make a full appearance. Once the moon settles , then the tides will reach midway towards the Temple._

" _You're doing well," I hear a voice behind me. I turn around and there I see my leader. A Gem I've been following after for 3,800 years._

 _Rose Quartz._

" _But you look exhausted," She adds, giving me a sad smile. I meet her gaze swiftly, then turn back to the ocean. The truth is, I am exhausted. I feel like I deserve something that equally values as a great rest. I feel like reverting back into my Gem to relax, but unless Rose decides to impale me with her sword, I doubt that will happen._

" _I'm not strong enough," I sigh dejectedly. When there were many Crystal Gems among us, I wanted to stand out among the rest and be acknowledged by our courageous leader. Fortunately for me, Rose saw my potential and valued me, however, I was never able to actually show her my full potential._

" _Don't worry Lapis," She says and place a calm hand on my shoulder. I look up and see her smiling graciously at me, "You're doing great."_

 _I frown slightly, "But it's not enough. This is my third day being out here and today I've been out here for hours and I still can't control the tides," I groan, annoyed with myself and her outstanding faith in me, "I'm not… good… enough…"_

 _I have to be good enough. I need to show her I'm good enough. I just can't seem to summon the inner strength to actually show her myself what a great asset I am to her. She purses her lips and looks off toward the ocean. I've seen this look on her face before. She's thinking of something wise to say, and all I can do is hold my breath and wait for her to say what she feel is right._

" _Peridot told me that there's a hurricane just east of the Atlantic Ocean," She said quietly. I may not know how to read, let alone decipher a map of any kind, but I do know that the Atlantic Ocean is the ocean that the Temple is facing towards. Peridot had already drilled that concept in my brain a few hundred times, "The ocean is too much to control on your own with a hurricane nearby. That's why the tides are rising." She adds._

 _I frown, "But...I still...I need to be able to control it."_

" _No you don—"_

" _I do!" I cut her off, "That's all I can do! I have to control the ocean! I have to keep it under control for your sake." I say._

" _For my sake? Or for yours?" She asks, simply. I clamp my jaw shut. I'm not sure what to say. What do I say?_

" _Lapis," She calls my name and puts both hands on my shoulder to turn me around and face her. I look up at her gorgeous eyes with beautiful locks of pink hair framing her face. After all these years of fighting and leading a war, she looks like she haven't changed. She looks composed and gentle, as if she's never even been included in the war, whereas, I look haggard and constantly tired from stress and trauma, directly from the hellacious war so many years ago._

" _Please, do not doubt yourself. You are a Crystal Gem. A survivor of the war against Homeworld. Of all of the comrades whom fallen, I am ever so glad that you are one of the few left standing." She says sincerely, with a smile gracing her lips. Her next words brings tears to my eyes, "You are, Lapis Lazuli, member of the Crystal Gems. You are more than good enough."_

 **~o O o~**

"Why was it so important to control the ocean?" Steven asked while Lapis gave a brief pause in her story.

"Gems that had ability to control certain elements were highly expected of having great control of their abilities," Lapis answered as she absentmindedly formed tiny figures out of the colored water, "However, Earth was the only planet that I've been on, that had so _much_ water on it. It was overwhelming and strenuous to control large bodies of water like that without a mental break."

"What do you mean by mental break?" Steven asked innocently before gasping, "You mean like your brain broke apart or something?"

Lapis stifled a laugh and answered, "No, nothing like that. I mean, a break, as in a long period of time when relaxing your mentality. When a Gem has the ability to control elements, it takes a lot of mental power and physical power to control that said element. When I was trying to control the ocean, my physical strength was there, however, my mentality was not. And since elemental Gems were so pressured into being expected of nothing less than great back on Homeworld, I was so stressed out on not being able to handle the ocean that my abilities were falling short," She explained.

Steven nodded, following what she was saying, "So if you're stressed, then your powers won't work so well?"

"In a sense, yes. I had other Crystal Gem duties that wore me out mentally," She sighed.

"Like what?"

"So many chores, like, locating Corrupted Gems, making sure those said Corrupted Gems weren't attacking any humans. Rescuing humans from Earthly situations such as hurricanes, tidal waves, drastic storms…" She waved off, dropping the water figures she was forming. She leaned her head back to look up at the hazy atmosphere, "Although, I suppose it's my fault for doing so many tasks by myself. I really just wanted to impress Rose."

Steven let out a small gasp, "You did all of that by yourself?"

"Most of them," She shrugged, "Even though back on Homeworld, I was a well known hydrokinetic, my powers were usually useless. There wasn't ever water to control on other planets, and if there were some planet with water sources, there wasn't a large amount of it, not nearly as much as there is on Earth." Lapis closed her eyes and gave a sigh, "And with that said, I wasn't utilized much on Homeworld. I was often looked over on missions. But out here, on Earth, there was so much opportunity to show that I could be better than what I was worth back on Homeworld. I didn't want to let Rose down…"

Steven looked down at the water that he and Lapis were occupying. He was starting to piece together what Lapis was saying. She was a special Gem. A Gem that can control elements. It takes a lot of mental and physical strength to control their element. This got Steven thinking about the Lapis back in his world. He remembered how practically forced the ocean into the sky trying to get back to Homeworld. Compared to that Lapis and this Lapis that was sitting next to him, the Lapis in his world seemed a _lot_ stronger than her. However he thought about the situation that the Lapis in his world was in.

She was trapped inside of a mirror.

She was held captive in a mirror for who knows how long. She had no worries or stress like the Lapis beside him. When Steven helped her escape the mirror, the only 'stress' she displayed was the stress of her going back to Homeworld. Because of that, she was more than mentally sound and capable enough to control the ocean at her expense.

"I think I understand, now…" Steven nodded in conclusion, "But...what does any of that have to do with you fusing with my mom?"

"Ah, well," Lapis straightened herself, "Your mother knew that my mentality was weakened, so she offered to help me… relax my state of mind."

 **~o O o~**

 _We warped away into the unknown. Knowing Rose, and the many secrets she held, she was most likely taking me someplace where not too many knew about. Despite that though, I asked her anyways._

" _Rose, where are you taking me?"_

 _She smiled at me, "A place to relax," She said simply. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her, as we phased in front of a deserted canyon. Ahead of us was a very large mountain. Before I could even guess how tall the hunk of rock was, Rose was already walking ahead of me, scaling the mountain._

 _I follow behind her, drawing my wings as we cover the mountain. It doesn't take us very long to get to the top. We land on the edge of the mountain, and surprisingly it's a flat surface, with a giant crater, 20 steps in diameter, what it seems. I frown at the familiarity this crater gives. I look at Rose, who was in turn, staring fondly at the center of the crater._

" _Is this place…" I trailed, wanting her to confirm what I was thinking._

" _Yes," she answered, walking towards a large indent in the crater, "This is the exact place where I first landed on Earth."_

 _I inspected the crater around us. It was true, this crater is about the same size as one of the proto-ships to land on other planets. The indents inside of the crater, must be the legs that the ship stood on. The ship most likely was destroyed or discarded, considering it was nowhere to be seen._

" _Why bring me here?" I ask._

" _It gives me a calm peace of mind," She smiles fondly, "When I think back of when I first arrived here, I remember that I didn't know what this planet was capable of. The life it inhabits, the mysterious wonders it holds…"_

 _She pauses and looks in my direction and gives me a blessed smile, "The endless opportunities this planet brings is spectacular. I feel proud that I am responsible for helping it stay intact. I know that without my help, the planet wouldn't even exist. So when I come to this spot, I feel…calm…because all that I fought for is all over. That at this spot, marked my journey to a new beginning."_

 _I looked away from her gaze, unable to form my thoughts. She was so sincere. Her words were powerful. So precise. So…honorable. Is she really just a common Quartz that was made in a Kindergarten?_

" _I want you to experience the same peace of mind I have. I want you to understand the way I feel when I come up here…" She says quietly. I look up at her, confused. She smiles at me again and says something I was not expecting, "Let's fuse."_

 _In attempt to regain my breathing, I gulp in a large pocketful of air, that ironically, made me choke._

" _Are you serious?" I asked, my voice hitching._

" _Of course," Rose laughed, "I want you to know that you're not alone."_

 _I shift my gaze away from her. Fuse? With Rose? Every part of my body felt anxious to do it, but my mind is telling me not to. I've never fused just for the sake of fusing. I've fused with Jasper in a battle before, but that was because we were cornered and was left with no other option. But fusing with my leader… It all seemed a little… inappropriate._

" _I don't know if I…" I didn't finish. So many things can be placed after that sentence._

 _I don't know if I can._

 _I don't know if I should._

 _I don't know if I want to._

 _Whatever the case may be, I am hesitant about the idea._

" _We're not on Homeworld anymore, Lapis," I heard her say, "You won't be judged by fusing with another type of Gem."_

 _It was true. On Homeworld, if you were to fuse, it had to be under necessary circumstances and with the same Gem. In this case, I would be breaking two rules by Homeworld standards. But…_

 _We weren't on Homeworld…_

" _Um… What should I…?" I asked looking down, embarrassed. I never truly danced. They time when Jasper and I fused, she just quickly spun me and dipped me, and the next thing I noticed, we were Malachite. This fusion dance however won't be rushed, making it a lot more intimate and surreal. Not to mention, I'm not sure what Gem we'll turn out to be. What we would look like… How tall we would be…How many appendages we would have?_

 _I felt Rose's presence get closer, "Just follow my lead. You'll eventually get the hang of it." She smiles encouragingly. I nod with a bit of hesitance, and step a little closer to her._

 _She puts her hand on my lower back and uses her free hand to interlock her fingers with mine. My free hand went up to her shoulder and ever so slowly, we begin to shuffle our legs. She twirls us around, both of our dresses picking up in the air from our momentum. She releases her hand from my back and lifted our hands up in the air so she could let me do a pirouette. I spin a few times gracefully until the momentum of my body came to a stop. With my back facing her, I begin to fall backwards, knowing that she will catch me. I land gracefully in her arms as she dips me low, and suddenly, I feel my gem pulse. I feel another gem, Rose's gem, pulse in sync with mine, and a bright light consumes us both._

 _As quickly as the light consumed us, the quicker it vanished. I open my–our– eyes slowly. I– We...look around hesitantly and then down at our–my body. Woah._

" _I'm—we're huge…!" I gasp at our new form, and our new accented voice, "Oh wow—I don't know... what to say?" I have a large build, but I'm curvy. I feel the length of my hair running down my backside. I look down at my...four...hands. They're not the blue or pink that I'm used to...It's a pinkish- violet hue._

" _I wish...I could see our face," I say breathlessly. I feel my face frown, and it seems that the Rose part of me is unhappy with the statement, "We...are not two people...We are one person."_

 _I blink at myself, "We're one person…" I repeat._

 _I look down at my hands, "I'm not alone…"_

 _I suddenly focus my attention at the crater that I'm standing over. Memories–or a sense of Rose's feelings flood over as I stare at the crater. I feel content, happy, accomplished and overall calm. These feelings were pure and it felt like my body was being cleansed of all negative thoughts that plagued Lapis' mind earlier. All the feelings that Rose told Lapis is what I'm feeling now. However, I feel a flood of overwhelming emotions from Lapis pool over me._

 _Tears appear in my eyes, and the Rose part of me says, "What's wrong?"_

 _I drop to my knees making a massive thud noise echoing off the mountain, "It's so beautiful–" I whimper, "Everything in your peace of mind is so beautiful! How do you have such lovely thoughts?" I wail._

 _The tears from my eyes spill over in large quantities. I sob while putting a pair of hands to my… lower pair of eyes…that belong to Lapis, I presume...My lower arms wrap around my body, as if I'm coddling myself, "It's okay. It's our thoughts. My thoughts. We're one person…"_

" _One person…" I repeat to myself. I sob some more. I suddenly try to swat my tears away from my eyes, but I somehow lose control of my powers and create a large pool of water, filling up the crater._

 _I blink, looking down at myself, "Uh oh! Oh no! Oh my—" I gasp as the water was rising. I couldn't stop it. I think my emotions are making the water rise, "I-I can't stop it. I-I'm sorry—!" I gasp. I feel my body start to unravel and break apart, and within a flash I separate._

" _Ugh!" I groan as I separate from Rose. I fall into the deep center of the water. My whole body emerged into its depths. I swim to the surface and take a gasp of air. I look around and see that I'm in a pool of pinkish-violet water– that feels unnaturally warm._

 _I whip my head around in search of my leader, "Rose?" I call out. A few seconds later Rose emerges to the surface as well, a short distance away from me, her eyes wide and alert. I swim towards her and ask, "Are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't mean to–"_

" _Are you alright?" she asks, cutting me off._

 _My eyes widened a fraction of a second before answering, "I'm fine. What about you?"_

 _She ignores my question, "Why did you split us up? Why did you start crying?"_

 _My face flushed. I cried while fused with my leader? How embarrassing. "I — I guess I was being emotional…" I say, "I was a little overwhelmed with...your–I mean—our emotions…"_

" _Why?" She asks._

" _Because...It was so...beautiful...and calm...and warm. I—I never have experienced such...inner peace and calmness before…" I paused, "It was like I was looking through life in your eyes…"_

 _Rose gave me a knowing smile, "And how did you feel?"_

 _I looked at the water and went into a deep thought, "I felt...happy...bliss...not...pressured. It was like I was taking it easy, for once." I say. I look up and met her soft eyes, "Is that how you feel all the time? Calm and happy?"_

 _Rose gave a small giggle, "Well...not all the time. But a large sum of that is how I feel."_

" _How do you feel that way all the time?" I pout. I wanted to know her secret. I wanted to feel like she does._

 _She gave me a sweet smile and cradled my cheek into her hand, "By letting go."_

 _Out of all the things, that was the last answer I expected her to give, "...letting go?" I asked._

 _She nods, "You're a Crystal Gem, now. You owe it to no one, to prove how useful you are. Let go of the past. Let go of you being a servant to the Diamonds. Find inner peace by knowing who you are and what you've already accomplished. That, is how you find inner peace."_

 **~o O o~**

"So, this is your tears?" Steven asked amazed as he made a ripple in the water.

Lapis nodded, "Yep. They were coming from my eyes, but since it was my powers mixed with your mother's healing powers, it has that sort of healing effect, to relieve aches and pains." She answered.

"Your tears mixed a little with my mom's healing powers..." Steven concluded, "But does it heal cracked Gems?"

Lapis gave an apologetic shrug, "I'm not sure. I've never tested it on a cracked Gem before," She answered truthfully, "But I have put you in here, once before when you were a baby."

"What did you put me in here for? Did I get hurt or something?" He asked curiously.

Lapis replied by shaking her head, "No, nothing that extreme. You were once crying all day, and Jasper, Peridot, and I didn't know what the problem was. I volunteered to take you for the hour to see what was wrong, and I ended up taking you here. It seemed appropriate to take you here, considering it was a safe haven for your mother. I dipped you in the water and you stopped crying immediately. Later, I found out you were only teething," Lapis chuckled at the distant memory.

"Oh," Steven chuckled with her, "Well, I'm glad that you took me here. I really like this place," Steven smiled.

Lapis gave an affectionate grin too and put a calm hand on his back, "If you ever want to visit this place again, just say the word."

Steven nodded and relaxed in her touch. His eyes started drooping low and he let out a long yawn. His body may be feeling better, but he still was bone tired, "I don't want to leave just yet, though," He admitted to her. If he was being honest with himself, he was enjoying basking in the magical water. More importantly, he enjoyed sitting by Lapis' side. She was always calm and peaceful which was quite the opposite of the Lapis in his world. Her presence was so delightful, that if he had the option of staying here with her for the rest of the day, he would certainly not resist that opportunity.

"We don't have to leave," She said, closing her eyes and leaning back into the inviting water, "This is our vacation after all."

* * *

 **A/N:** Well that took a long time to write! I mean seriously, this Chapter is like 10k+ words!

I wanted to put a flashback with Lapis and I wanted her to fuse with Rose, so that flashback itself was supposed to be a whole other chapter, but I decided that 2 back-to-back chapters dedicated to Lapis and Steven's relationship/dialogue would've been too much.

ALSO, I'm **not** entirely thrilled with the concept of making NEW Gems, or Gemsona's added, or naming fusion Gems and creating them. I mean it's cool to make them, but not story wise. I've seen so many people's Gemsona's of Ruby and/or Sapphire online (before their release episode of course) and when Ruby and Sapphire's appearance aired, it was a little weird having their ideas displayed and different from the show (I hope you understand what I'm talking about).

Anyway, my point being, I'm not going to be naming any un-introduced fusions or characters. Like you saw Lapis' and Rose's fusion was depicted mostly by the audience and how you perceive it to look. All you know is that she's violet colored (because pink and blue makes violet) and she has multiple arms and eyes. The rest of it is up to your imagination (Name/ skin color/ hair color/ height/ facial features etc). And whatever other unknown Gems in the story are going to be in the same context. They won't have a name or any real significance. They'll be like the background characters like in the episode "The Answer".

Phew. Sorry for my explanations, but I was making sure I was being clear.

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS AND SUPPORT *mwuah!* I love you! Tell me how you felt about this chapter!

I was going to draw the landscape of Lapis' "Secret Oasis" and some of the scenes depicted here (mainly the flashback) If you're interested in seeing it, My tumblr art blog will be posted on my profile!

Until next Time!


	7. Mission

**A/N:** I am so sorry for making you all wait nearly 9 months. I've been so busy with my last months of my college semester and I just started my new semester just this Monday.

Not only that, I've had some serious writer's block for this specific chapter for many reasons. But I finally pulled through, so you guys should be getting more frequent updates (way less than 9 months).

Also remember that this fic takes place a little bit after the events of Chillie Tid, so obviously since there are some inconsistencies with my plot (i.e Canonically, Rose was most likely created on Earth, while in this fic Rose traveled to Earth instead of being created here), I'm just going to say that this is an AU and just deal with the inconsistencies.

And one last thing! Because the SU _show_ is introducing new episodes, and new characters and plots, I will be tweaking this story _slightly_ to include those newly introduced plots. Other than that, the story is still on its originally planned plot! :]

 **Replies** **:**

 **Guest(1)** \- I have noooo idea what you're talking about :3 *snickers* you'll just have to wait and see! Maybe, maybe not~ And thank you so much! The character's background will be revealed (eventually)!

 **flying ducks298** \- thank you! :'D I hope to update more quickly soon!

 **Xanthophlobic** \- Why thank you dear! :] I'm glad you enjoy it!

 **Shiranai Atsune** \- Unfortunately they cant see _his_ memories, but you can see the _Gem's memories!_ And you know I cant answer that ! You'll have to wait and see! Hahaha

 **FlightfootKeyseeker** \- Hmm..You may be onto something ;) Wait and see!

 **Chlora Valkyrie** \- ; A ; you are so pure! Thank you for my 100th review and thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoy it!

 **KillJoyGem** \- Your favorite story? Oh goodness thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it! :) Oh boy, I wish the oasis was real too!

 **Yuna53421** \- I was really thinking about it and there's an 85% chance I may do that. I Will let everyone know halfway through _this_ story, if I'm going to make a sequel. But as of now, there won't be any chapters regarding the _other_ Steven.

 **cristofer25** \- Oh! HMM I WONDER WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS GONNA BE ABOUT ;)

 **Pirate Lapis** \- Thanks a lot! I'm glad you like their relationship! I like it too! And no, :( there won't be a chapter about the _other_ Steven, but I will most likely write a Ver.2 story about the other Steven once I'm halfway done with this one! :3 Also! Thank you for that helpful comment, I'm going to post pictures of scenes of this fic soon (when I buy a new tablet). And lastly, I cannot tell you that! That is confidential! :)

 **I do not own Steven Universe but I do own this story.**

ENJOY!

 **End A/N:**

* * *

 **CH7: Mission**

"Alright Steven, say ' _aah_ ' ," Peridot ordered gently, coaxing Steven to open his mouth.

"Aaaah!" Steven complied, opening his mouth as wide as he could, sticking his tongue out. He swung his legs back and forth on the now called 'doctor's table' in Peridot' room. He has grown so comfortable with the room now, he's started to name some objects within it. The table he was on was called the 'doctor's table', the computer screen, he called it, 'oversized laptop', and the flask robonoids that were numerically named by Peridot, now all had colorful and unique designs on each of them. It was easier to keep track of them now, since each robonoid had different functions. According to Peridot, the robonoids had specific functions based on their odd and even numbers. Even robonoids were mostly assigned for housework and medical work, while the odd robonoids were responsible for missions and 'Gem Duties', whatever that meant.

"Steven, please don't kick me," Peridot voiced.

"Oh!" Steven said, with his tongue still sticking out of his mouth. He stopped swinging his legs obediently and said, "Sowwie!"

With careful, robotic, fingers, Peridot gently placed a small, pink, pill on Steven's tongue. She withdrew her fingers and Steven closed his mouth, wriggling the foreign object with the tip of his tongue.

"Don't I need water to swallow it?" Steven asked concerned. Every time he swallowed an aspirin or pain killer, he had to drown it down with some water. Pearl used to stress about the pill being possibly lodged down his throat, and was constantly worried he would choke to death.

Peridot shook her head and opened a screen from her fingers, "No. It's a chewable capsule. You should be fine," she assured.

Surprised, Steven tested the new chewable 'Gem Pill' in his mouth. This was the pill that was infused with his mother's healing tears, and other miscellaneous healing items the Gems gathered. According to Peridot, this pill was supposed to relieve his muscle aches he has been enduring for the past week and a half. Even though he and Lapis dulled his pains when they went to the oasis a few days ago, it was only temporary, because in less than 20 hours, the pains continued on.

"It's cherry flavored!" Steven gasped, referring to the pill.

Peridot nodded and shrugged, "I thought that you would enjoy it, if it was a flavor you liked," she says, looking back at her screen, "Anyway the pill should be kicking in within a few minutes."

"Tastes good!" Steven smiled, swallowing the rest of the pill, "But, I don't understand. How will this pill be better than an aspirin or any other pain medicine that I usually take?"

Peridot glanced up from her screen before looking back down, scrolling past digital texts with her fingers, "Because, since the Versal Stone is embedded in your gem, I hypothesize that it's sapping away your energy and giving you the constant discomfort you're feeling," she looked up from her screen and continued, "Your gem, like all of our gems, affects how we physically function. If a gem is cracked, splintered or damaged in any way, the user suffers consequences from that hindrance. As for you, your gem functions the same but with half of the usual effects."

"Half?" Steven asked.

Peridot nodded, "Yes, half. You're half human, so your body is affected by what happens to it both physically and gematically, but mostly towards physical and strenuous stress to your body. Let's hypothetically say you were malnourished. Your body would likely shut down, due to lack of food consumption, and starve to death, like a normal human would. This situation is because of your human body, not due to stress from your gem.

"Now, if your gem was cracked or damaged, your body will also sustain negative effects that normal Gems would. You would be sluggish, glitching, and other possible side effects. Since the Versal Stone is literally trying to decompose your gem, you are now feeling the constant aches and pains because of it. That pill I gave you, has the remnants of your mother's healing tears, that is able to heal damaged Gems. I've used other ingredients in the pill to make the healing last for around 22 hours."

Following her explanation and examples, Steven nodded his head in understanding, "Okay. But…" he pondered, "If the Versal Stone is trying to decompose my gem, why hasn't it...you know... _decompose_ yet?"

"Ah, well that's because you harvest your mother's gem," Peridot said, matter-of-factly, "Your mother had the greatest and rarest power of healing, so much so, that even her gem had the ability to heal itself. It was the reason why she hardly lost in battle. She was nearly impervious to damage." Peridot smiled in pride at her late leader's impressive abilities.

"Really? So like her gem would heal if it ever got damaged?" Steven asked in interest.

Peridot answered him by smiling smugly, "Well yes. She was one of the greatest Quartz soldiers to be ever created," she chuckled, "Besides, that ability obviously came in handy, both now and when you were an infant."

"Hm? Did something happen to me when I was a baby?" Steven asked, recalling asking this very same question to Lapis when they were in the Secret Oasis.

Peridot's face twisted into an annoyed frown. She turned away blushing in embarrassment and went to look back at her finger screen, "I wish I hadn't said anything."

So something did happen! "I wanna know!" Steven asked, suddenly very interested.

Peridot grimaced, glancing back and forth between Steven and her screen. She ultimately settled her sights on her screen, pretending to look at something interesting, while answering, "Well…obviously much like all babies and toddlers, you've been through some… _minor_ accidents…" she said, stressing on the word 'minor'.

"What happened? I wanna know! Pleeease?" Steven begged.

Peridot waved her hand, trying to dismiss the conversation, "It's not important. Just know you're alive and well. Er…well, at least the other Steven is." She pondered. She looked back at her screen, as if she had to check something, "Speaking of the other Steven, I have to go."

Steven raised an eyebrow in question. First, she brought up past events, but didn't elaborate on them, and now she has to leave? "What? Why?" He asked.

Peridot looked at Steven and rolled her eyes, "I have to go and visit the Liber Spire to research once more before the sun sets." She put her digital screen away and grabbed Steven by his waist. She picked him up from the table and set him down on the floor, "And before I go, I need to make sure that your pill is working correctly. Are you feeling any pain?"

Steven was surprised by the sudden question. He wasn't paying attention to the dullness of his muscles, the drumming headache, or the constant fatigue he always had. It was because Steven honestly didn't feel his symptoms at all! Steven hadn't noticed that he felt considerably better than how he was feeling for the past week and a half. Steven stretched out his arms in front of him and wriggled his fingers. Nope. He was fine. He shook his legs and bent his knees. No pain there. He curled and uncurled his toes to check. Not even a pinch of pain.

Steven looked up at Peridot, excited, "No! I feel great! I feel _fantastic_!" He threw his arms in the air.

Peridot sighed, relieved, "Good. You even sound better. This means that my pills were a succes- _oooph_!" Peridot gasped, nearly having her ribs crushed by Steven's death grip of a hug.

Steven snuggled his face in her middle, truly grateful for her help. He smiled gleefully and muffled into her ribs, "Thank you so much, Peridot!" And somehow squeezed her harder.

Peridot awkwardly stood there as she let Steven embrace her. She decided the best she could provide him was a warm pat on the head, and a hesitant smile, "You're welcome, Steven."

She expected the hug to be over a few seconds after she responded, but it seemed like Steven was really eternally grateful, because a full 30 seconds later, he was still glued to her.

"Uh, Steven." Peridot mumbled, not being used to being hugged this long. She wasn't the overly affectionate type like Lapis, and very rarely Jasper (when she wanted to be), "You can let me go, now," Peridot commented.

Immediately, Steven jumped off of Peridot, "Ah, sorry, Peridot." He gave her a sheepish smile and asked, "Does this mean I can go outside now?"

"Wait, let me check something," Peridot crouched down to Steven's height and pulled on the hem of his shirt. She was hesitant at first but slowly lifted up the pink fabric to reveal the Rose Quartz in his stomach. The gem was back to its original pink hue, however, there were small patches of murky white dancing on the facets. The Versal Stone was still very present inside of his gem. Peridot frowned. Well, at least the medication was working.

"Everything okay?" Steven asked nervously. He couldn't see his gem over Peridot's massive hair.

Peridot glanced up at Steven, then pulled his shirt down, back over his gem. She stood up and activated her finger screen to type down some notes, "You're as ' _okay_ ' as 'okay' gets," she responded. "The medication is doing its function properly, and you should be able to go outside and continue your normal routine."

Another smile spread across Steven's face. He's so lucky that he has Peridot to help him through this strange situation. If it wasn't for her and all her hard work, he would be wallowing in pain all day in his bed. But now…he can go outside! He could be free! He could go to the beach, or walk the boardwalk, or go to the arcade! Heck, he wouldn't mind to just bask in the sun's presence, and would especially not mind if he got a sunburn or not. It was all worth it.

"A word of caution," Peridot said, clearing her throat, "I am aware of your powers, like creating the shield bubble and most likely other various abilities, and I would prefer if you would use them as little as possible."

"Huh? Why?" Steven frowned.

"Because, using your powers requires energy from your gem. You need that energy for the medicine to work at its full advantage, which is when you're not using your powers," She explained.

"Aw," Steven pouted, "That sucks."

Peridot narrowed her eyes at Steven, "I need you to give me your word, Steven. Do _not_ use your powers freely, unless it's an absolute emergency or a necessity. With the materials I salvaged, I only made around 70 pills for your consumption, which leaves me little time to figure this Versal Stone situation out."

Steven frowned at first, but eventually nodded, and said, "I won't use my powers unless it's an absolute emergency. I promise!"

Peridot nodded at his compliance, "Good. You're all done here. You may go outside."

Steven cheered excited to finally go outside, "Yay! I think I'm gonna go to the Big Donut to celebrate!"

Peridot grimaced, "Aren't donuts a breakfast food?"

"Yeah, I think they are," he answered.

"But, breakfast ended an hour ago," Peridot pointed out, noting the time on her digital screen.

"Oh, well you don't technically have to eat it at breakfast," Steven explained as Peridot rolled her eyes and shuffled towards a crystallized bookshelf, "You can eat it anytime except an hour before bedtime, because you're not suppose to have sugar before you go to bed. Er…well, at least, that's what Pearl told me." Steven mumbled and scratched his cheek, not completely sure where Pearl ever got that strange information from, but it seemed plausible enough for Steven to obey that rule, up until now.

Peridot plucked a heavy book from her bookshelf, now disinterested in the conversation, "I'll never understand you humans and your strange eating habits," She muttered. She turned around and began to walk towards the exit and two flask robonoids followed her right on her heels. Not wanting to be left alone in Peridot's sterile room, Steven chose to follow her too.

They both left the room and Peridot placed herself on the Warp Pad, "Alright Steven, I'll be back before the sun sets. Please take care of yourself."

Steven gave her a thumbs up and said, "Okie dokie!"

He darted towards the front door, ready to leave, until Peridot stopped him, "Oh! And before you go!" Steven halted and turned around, and Peridot continued, "Can you please remind Jasper to do her assigned mission today? She should be outside in the front, doing whatever she usually does out there," she rolled her eyes, "Remind her for me. She can be quite forgetful at times."

"Oh, okay! I'll tell her!" Steven said. Peridot thanked him and warped away. Steven's lips curled into a smile. Maybe on top of going outside today, he could also, perhaps, spend some time with Jasper. He was always curious about Jasper, since he's only spent a fraction of his time with her. The only times he would see her is when she would occasionally say hello when she walk past his bedroom to go to the kitchen, the warp pad or the front door. The Jasper in his world was very aggressive and intense, while this Jasper was a bit more…soft and calmer. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to skip the Big Donut to hang out with Jasper for a day.

Suddenly, Steven felt violent thud from outside, rattling the insides of the house. Curious by the sudden commotion, Steven walked out the front door and searched for where the noise came from. With little to no luck, Steven turned towards his steps until suddenly, he was immediately attacked by a merciless gust of wind. Steven squinted as wind whipped violently across his face. This wasn't a normal wind. It felt as if it were being controlled by someone or something. Steven went down his steps and finally onto the sand floor where the wind seemed to get even stronger.

Steven searched in the direction where the wind was coming from, but with no luck. Steven looked around, confused by the strange phenomena, until he heard a large thunderous clap to his left. Suddenly, there was a giant pink and green blur that flew across the sand, hurling in his direction. Steven gasped, and instinctively summoned his bubble shield around him. The pink and green blob deflected off the bubble and ricochet high into the air.

Shocked, Steven squinted at the blob for further inspection to see what exactly bounced off his bubble shield. Pink and green, round, and strong winds? Steven gasped and realized exactly what it was, "The Giant Puffer Fish!" He exclaimed. The Giant Puffer Fish monster twirled haphazardly in the sky while blowing wind in multiple directions. Steven never recalled that the monster could launch itself at a target. In fact, Steven remembered the monster being incredibly slow and only able to blow out wind.

"So where did it come from?" Steven asked himself as he watched the monster flail awkwardly in the air while it descended. In a superhuman flash, Steven saw an orange blur hop onto his bubble, and launched itself towards the Giant Puffer Fish. The orange blur slowed its momentum and stopped when it reached the monster. The orange object in question, Steven realized, was Jasper!

Jasper reeled in her fist and released a powerful punch, right in the Giant Puffer's side. The punch was so loud and deadly, that it emitted another thunderous clap that shook the entire beach. The monster flew away so quickly that Steven didn't notice it went across the water until he saw the puff of smoke that trailed the direction where the Puffer Fish was punched towards.

Steven stared in awe, and wide eyed as Jasper landed back on the beach with a thud. She grunted and stretched her arms and cracked her fingers. Her expression looked bored and perhaps even annoyed. Steven let down his shield and said a small, "Wow!"

Jasper glanced at Steven and smirked at him. She rested her hands on her hips, "I know. Hard to believe I'm _that_ amazing."

"That really _was_ amazing!" Steven praised, "That was so cool how you hit it off my bubble, and then jumped on top of my bubble to-" Steven paused. Wait. Didn't Peridot ask him not to use his powers as frequently as he usually did? "Oh _no_ ," Steven groaned and slapped his palm on his forehead, annoyed with himself.

"Whats wrong?" Jasper asked.

"Peridot told me to only use my powers in an absolute emergency! And I used them five minutes after she just told me not to." Ugh. This was going to be a challenge to not rely on his powers so much.

Jasper shrugged, "What's the harm in using your powers for one time?" She asked rhetorically, "Besides, you _did_ use it for an emergency. You could've been hit by that thing. Don't want you having any more accidents."

"Yeah… I guess so," Steven shrugged, "By the way, you know that hitting the Puffer Fish monster across the ocean doesn't mean that it's gone forever." He pointed out.

Jasper rolled her eyes and cracked her neck, "You sound _just_ like Peridot," she mumbled, "Yeah, I know it's going to come back. I've been hitting it away every morning for the past few days. I'll deal with it later."

Steven chuckled a little, the last part of her sentence reminded him what Amethyst said about the monster when she smacked it away towards the ocean. "You're supposed to pop it with something pointy so it can poof away."

"Good to know. Maybe next time when we see it, you should guide me through the whole thing," Jasper said sarcastically, "It will be like your own little mission."

"Okay! Sure!" Steven jumped excitedly, Jasper's sarcasm flying over his head, "Oh! Speaking of missions, Peridot told me to remind you to not forget to do your mission today."

Jasper only groaned, "Oh, please. I don't need a reminder like I'm some child."

"What's the mission you gotta do?" Steven asked, thusly interested.

"I have to obtain the Geode Earth Beetle. Lapis went to go retrieve its' counterpart, the Heaven Beetle, earlier this morning." She explained.

"Oh! I know where the Heaven Beetle is! It's at the top of a mountain where a giant bird lives!" Steven said. He remembered the time when he, Amethyst and Pearl went and did the very same mission, and to Steven's luck, he was able to persuade his friends to form into Opal.

"That's probably the reason why she's not back yet," Jasper mused, not interested in the giant bird story. She shifted her weight, then turned her head to look back at the temple, "I guess I should go get the Earth Beetle, before _you know who_ , starts breathing down my neck, again." She turned and walked away, the opposite from the Temple.

"Oh! Jasper!" Steven called. Jasper stopped and turned her head, her back facing him. "Um..uh can I…come along?"

Jasper turned to him quizzically, "You want to join me on a mission?" She said, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

"Well sure," Steven smiled, "I thought you could have used some company."

Jasper threw her head back to laugh, mocking Steven. Steven frowned, "What's so funny?"

"Heh, you wouldn't last one minute on one of _my_ missions," Jasper smirked playfully, mirth dancing on her yellow irises, "They're highly intense and extremely dangerous. But, hey, nice try to include yourself though," the orange Gem said, walking away and towards the underpass of where Steven kept his washing machine. Jasper was ready to leap up to to the giant hand statue supporting both the washing machine and the nearest Warp Pad, until Steven ran in front of her.

"What makes you think I can't handle that type of mission?" Steven narrowed his eyes at her.

Jasper perked an eyebrow. She shifted her weight again, her right hand on her hip and her left scratching the back of her head. She shifted her gaze at the afternoon sky, "It's an intense mission, like I said. It's not something that a rookie can handle, even if I'm there to help," she chuckled quietly.

"But I'm _not_ a rookie!" Steven stamped his foot, now fully determined, "I've been on a bunch of missions! I've even saved Earth a few times!"

Amused, Jasper asked, "Oh really? And how do you plan on helping when we're underneath an active volcano?"

Steven blinked, "An active volcano?"

"That's where the Earth Beetle is. Right underneath an active volcano in a lava lake," Jasper clarified.

"Well I'll just uh..." Steven looked around pensively, "I'll wear a tank top then!" He said seriously. Jasper only laughed.

Steven frowned and flushed in embarrassment, "Hey, c'mon! I'm trying my best here!"

Jasper shook her head still laughing, "Sorry, Steven, I don't think that's going to work."

With an upset pout, Steven ran over to Jasper and hugged her legs and gave her his best, sad, puppy-dog eyes, " _Pleeeeeaaaaaasssseeee_ , Jasper! I really wanna go!"

"Steven," Jasper finally sighed, "I don't think you should come. It won't be safe and the last thing I need is for you to get hurt and Peridot and Lapis will have a hair up their ass."

"But I won't get hurt!" Steven argued.

"Yeah, but if you do-"

"I _won't_! And if I do get hurt, we'll just say that I snuck on the Warp Pad with you and you didn't notice!" He tried.

Jasper arched a perfect brow, "You'd lie, just to go on this mission with me?" Steven nodded decisively. Jasper frowned, "Why do you want to go on a mission with me do badly?"

"Because…!" Steven groaned, letting go of Jasper's legs, "I've been at home all week and I thought we could spend some time together!"

Jasper rolled her eyes, "Steven it's going to be too dangerous."

Steven frowned. Obviously his 'please method' wasn't going through with Jasper. He wondered if there were any other ways to persuade her into taking him with her. When Jasper turned to leave, Steven's head was scrambling for ideas. He wanted to go with her and she wasn't having it.

Jasper crouched down, ready to leap up to the high platform, until Steven said, "I bet you won't let me come because you're too chicken!"

To his surprise, Jasper immediately froze in place. She stood from her crouching position and turned to face Steven. The look on her face made Steven contemplate whether or not he should've just kept his mouth shut. Jasper's relaxed demeanor contorted into an intense one. She resembled her other counterpart from Steven's original timeline, which, in this case, made Steven a nervous wreck.

"Uh oh…" Steven mumbled to himself. Had Steven gone too far? Had he hurt her dignity?

Jasper marched over to Steven and crouched to his eye level. Startled by her closeness, Steven stumbled backwards and fell on his bottom, "Uh...hah…hah..." he laughed nervously, "Kidding! I was just kidding!"

"No you weren't," Jasper seethed. Her massive height and her intense gaze made Steven feel even smaller than he already was in comparison, "You think I'm _scared_ of taking you with me, huh?" she smirked sadistically.

Steven wasn't sure if he should play along or keep denying it until his face turned blue,"I...I mean…" He nervously looked around and inhaled sharply, "Y-yeah!"

Jasper's eyebrows furrowed and Steven continued, "It… It sounds to me that you're only worried about what Peridot and Lapis might say," he says, regaining his confidence, "Are you afraid of them getting angry with you?"

Jasper gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, "Of course I'm not afraid of those two."

"Sounds to me that you are," he countered.

"I am not!" she growled, "The day that I'll be afraid of Lapis and Peridot, _especially Peridot_ , is the day that you can shatter me from existence!"

Steven smiled playfully, finally getting to her, "Oh, I dunno, Jas. I think you're just chickening out on me- _woah_!" Steven gasped as Jasper suddenly picked him up.

They both were looking at each other as Jasper held Steven just inches away from her face, "Listen, brat," she started, "There's no one in this entire _galaxy_ that can scare _me_ ," she confirmed.

"I don't know bout that," Steven teased, "Sounds to me like you're chicken."

"I am not-!"

"Bawk, bawk, bawk!" Steven interrupted by making crude clucking noises, and flapping his arms like a chicken.

" _Steven-!"_

"I'm Jasper and I'm a giant chicken! Bawk bawk bawk!" Steven laughed, mocking the proud Quartz soldier.

In a flash, Steven felt himself ascending in the air. He felt the cold ocean breeze rush past his face and saw the sand beneath him grow more distant. In an instant, the momentum stopped and he finally felt himself land on something solid. Well, he himself didn't land on a solid mass, rather Jasper landed while she still held him in her arms. Steven looked around and saw that they were perched on the temple arm where his washing machine occupied. While Jasper walked them over to the Warp Pad, Steven glanced at the Temple and realized something drastically different.

The beautiful giant woman that was carved into the side of the mountain, with beautiful curls and eight arms, and the placement of Amethyst, Garnet, and his mother's Gem were replaced. Instead, it was a giant woman with a rounded face, with four eyes and a curvy build. She had, what seemed to be six arms and long wavy hair. Her face had dark swirly designs on her face, chest and arms, resembling much like the one's Jasper has, and was equipped with a triangular visor. On her forehead, there was a triangular gemstone, and far above it was an oval gemstone. Below, where a nose should be, there was a rhombus shaped gem placed instead. Lower below near the center of the chest was a circular opening, where a teardrop shaped gem was located. The rest of the Temple was unidentifiable because of the moss and damage that the sculpture sustained.

Steven blinked a few times, registering the sight of the sculpture. Steven had been taught, after Pearl's explanation of fusion, that the Temple was sculpted after a fusion between Pearl, Garnet, Amethyst and his mother. Now that Steven was in an entirely different universe, Steven was now faced with a foreign sculpture. A replica of the fusion between, Jasper, Lapis, Peridot, his mother and…

"Pearl?" Steven mumbled, squinting at the oval gemstone placed on the top of the fusion's forehead.

Before he could continue his observation further, there was a familiar opaque flash around him and a floating sensation. Steven looked around and saw that Jasper was now warping them to their destination. They instantly appeared in a dark reddish-orange cave, filled with bright yellow and orange lava streaks from both the ceiling and the floor.

Jasper placed Steven on the floor and said, "Here we are. Happy now?" she spat, annoyed.

"Yeah!" Steven smiled and stepped off the Warp Pad. It was unbearably hot and stuffy inside the cave, and Steven was already sweating, "Oh, man, I should've brought my tank top."

Jasper shook her head, "It wouldn't have made a difference." She also stepped off the Warp Pad and looked around for something in particular. She crouched down after a moment to pick up an item. Curious, Steven went to find out what larger Quartz was holding. Jasper turned to reveal a flask robonoid with a familiar number and illustrations marked on it.

"Oh! Robo 5!" Steven gasped at the robonoid.

Jasper frowned, "What?"

"That's Peridot's robonoid. Robo 5!" Steven explained. He went over to point out the drawings and designs he placed on the robonoid, "See, I drew a giant number five, some flowers and put my Sad Apple sticker on it."

"Why?" Jasper asked.

"Because, Sad Apple made her debut on episode five on Crying Breakfast Friends. I thought it would be appropriate," Steven giggled, to which, Jasper rolled her eyes and pressed a small and almost invisible button on the robonoid. The robonoid responded by revealing a small digital screen on its interface. Steven looked at the screen curiously and asked, "What's it doing down here anyway?"

"These robots are how we know where a corrupted Gem is and where to looks for them while on a mission," Jasper replied, while studying the small GPS location on the screen, "These robots go out in the field in search for a corruption or any other disturbance, and then reports it back to Peridot. Then Peridot instructs me about the mission at hand."

"Woah, that's pretty cool," Steven said, thoroughly impressed by the robonoid's usefulness, "So that screen tells you where the Earth Beetle is?"

Jasper nodded, "It tells us the last location where it was spotted," she answered. She stood up and tossed the robonoid to the side, "Its last whereabouts was near the Lava Lake, two hours ago." Jasper walked towards the direction where the Lava Lake was apparently located. Steven followed right on her heels.

As the duo walked down a bridge-like pathway that spiraled lower and lower into a bright yellow area. The brighter the light was, the hotter it got. Steven wiped the sweat from his eyebrow and huffed heavily. He trailed behind Jasper who seemed oblivious to the increasing temperature levels around her. When the two Quartz proceeded to cross over a deep crack of lava, Jasper stepped over it with no problem, however, when Steven tried to cross, a sudden bubble of boiling lava popped between the crack, exploding upward. Startled, Steven instinctively jumped back and fell on his behind. The heat from the floor was so hot, that is scorched the bottom of Steven's jeans. He immediately jumped up and rubbed his warm bottom, hoping to sooth the small burn.

Steven heard a small rumble of laughter nearby, and saw that Jasper witnessed his entire situation. Jasper stepped forward and picked him up and said, "Who's the chicken now?"

Steven gave a sheepish grin and Jasper placed him on her shoulders. Steven sighed and supposed that he was going to be carried the rest of the way, and slowly realized that he should've taken Jasper's previous warning seriously. If he couldn't even handle a walk under a volcanic path, how was he going to deal with the rest of the mission? While being perched on top of Jasper's shoulders? Not likely.

"I'm sorry…" Steven mumbled and rested his chin on the top of Jasper's head.

"What?" asked Jasper.

Steven groaned, "I should've listened to you when you said that this mission was going to be dangerous. I'm not going to be very useful when I'm just gonna be on your shoulders the whole time…"

Steven felt Jasper shrug, "What's done is done. You're already here now, brat. I'm not taking you back now, we've come too far for that."

A ball of uncomfortable guilt formed in the pit of Steven's stomach. Maybe he was just getting in Jasper's way and now he put more stress onto her. Oh great, just what he needed, to get in the way in a mission, "Also, I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

"Now what are you babbling about?"

"When I called you a chicken. I didn't mean it. I just wanted to go with you, and figured if I teased you, that you would prove a point in taking me with you." he admitted, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Jasper gave a deep chuckle, "Calculative, yet sentimental, just like your mother."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. It's fine Steven. I actually preferred that you came along," she said.

"I-really?" he asked confused.

"To be honest, I'm not overly concerned about your safety. You've survived plenty of things in the past, so I figure a simple search and retrieve mission wouldn't kill you," she said.

"Wait, if you aren't overly concerned, then why did you say all that 'danger' stuff earlier?" he asked.

"Because it was the responsible thing to say," Jasper shrugged, "Especially since after your recent mission. The others are treating you like you're made of wet paper."

Steven frowned, "Are you talking about the Versal Stone?"

"Of course," Jasper rolled her eyes, "You survived the most lethal weapons in Gem history. Lapis and Peridot thinks that you should be handled with more care, but I don't think so. If you can survive that, you can survive anything."

Steven instinctively reached for his gem and clutched the fabric covering it, "I was really scared that day," he mumbled aloud, finally admitting his fears to another person, "I thought I was really dying that time. Like...I've had close calls before but, never like that…"

Jasper turned her head slightly, and then back towards where she was walking, "We were all scared, you know."

"How scared?" Steven inclined.

Jasper shook her head, "Lapis and Peridot were definitely... _distraught_ … over the ordeal, but I…" she trailed off, lost in her train of thoughts.

"Jasper…?" Steven called quietly, after a few moments of silence.

She shook her head again, as if she was trying to shake the thoughts out of her mind, "It was pretty damn shocking to see you almost _dead_ on the floor," she grumbled out, "If you would've died that day, that would've been the end for me."

Steven's eyes widened, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Rose asked one thing from us before she gave birth to you. Just _one_ favor to repay all the debts that we owed to her. She wanted us to protect and raise you to the best of our abilities," Jasper frowned, "And if you would've died that day, I would've failed what Rose asked from me."

Steven mentally shriveled up in a nice heaping pile of guilt. Was he really that much of a bother? He nearly cost Jasper the meaning of her existence. He nearly erased his mother's gem. He nearly _died_ because he couldn't follow the simplest instructions. Steven felt ashamed. When was he going to grow up and consider everyone around him? Consider how impactful he was in the lives of the Crystal Gems. And not just _his_ Crystal Gems, but _these_ Crystal Gems as well. Steven buried his face in Jasper's massive mane of hair and whimpered pitifully.

Noting his discomfort, Jasper patted Steven on the thigh affectionately. When he didn't respond, she decided that lightening the mood would be a better tone for the atmosphere. At least, better than Steven attempting to sob in her hair, she thought, "Anyway, I knew you were going to be a sturdy little Quartz soldier, like myself, when you were _way_ younger."

Steven raised his head, intrigued, "Really?" he asked quietly.

Jasper shrugged, smirking to herself, "It's not a huge surprise. You've proven yourself worthy after the day you broke your hand."

Now this fully captured Steven's attention, "When I _broke_ my _hand_?!"

Jasper nodded, laughing at the distant thought, "You broke your hand when you were about… four… or five years of age," she thought, trying to remember how old Steven was at the time, "It was pretty funny, until Peridot wouldn't quit bitching at me," She instantly growled, brooding at the loud and annoying shrieks that came from Peridot that day.

"I never broke my hand...or anything on my body before!" Steven expressed.

"Well, you've succeeded in this universe," Jasper replied.

"Can you tell me about it?" Steven eagerly asked, "I asked Peridot about something like this earlier, but she didn't want to talk about it."

Jasper rolled her eyes, "Of course she doesn't. She and Lapis would shapeshift a heart, just to have an aneurysm about every little scrape or bruise you get," she shook her head, "Anyway, it was a mid afternoon on the beach in front of the temple…"

 **~o O o~**

 _I swear, if another bird shits on me, I'm going to rip it's wings off and throw it in the ocean._

 _I glare at the stupid animal as it flaps away, as it left it's feces on the tip of my boot. I can almost hear the bastard laughing as it leaves to go annoy someone else. Squawking at humans to feed it, or flying aimlessly in the sky; I cannot, for the life of me, understand it's purpose in the world._

 _Peridots were technicians. Useful._

 _Lapis Lazulis were valuable assets to control water on other planets. Understandable._

 _Quartz were elite soldiers to follow orders under a commander. Absolutely functional._

 _But birds? Just another stupid creature to piss me off._

 _I grit my teeth in annoyance at how stupid the varmint is and ball my fists. I need to punch someone. No. If I punch someone on this planet, they'd probably combust into pieces._

 _I groan. Can't someone on this planet just come up and_ _ **fight**_ _me?! I am itching to pummel someone into the dirt! That someone could be Peridot. Oh, Gods, just once, I wish I could just beat her senseless until my arms get tired. And even after that, I'd use my legs until I couldn't stand._

 _She purposefully punishes me by making me do annoying tasks such as 'watch Steven' or 'go to the grocery store' when she can clearly do them herself! But does she do them?_ _ **No.**_ _I'm the one 'babysitting' Steven, while she's off doing whatever she deems important._

 _Ugh! Can this day get even more goddamn annoying?!_

 _First, Peridot, leaving Steven on me. Not to mention Greg and his annoying habit of leaving Steven here at the temple on a weekly basis and refusing to tell us when he'll return. Not that Steven is a problem, but, it leaves one of us to stay behind at the temple to watch him._

 _That one, being_ _ **me**_ _. Screwing up my routine and afternoon to babysit Steven, when I should be out, fighting any corrupted gem that dares to oppose me._

 _But no. I'm stuck here on this damn beach, getting shat on, while Steven watches movies inside._

 _Peridot is out, doing whatever._

 _Lapis is helping humans with a hurricane situation down south._

 _And I'm..._

" _Getting annoyed," I grumble and stomp towards an impressive boulder. If I can't punch someone, I could at least punch_ _ **something**_ _. I raise my fist, and reel it back, then carry my momentum into the boulder, instantly shattering it into countless pieces._

 _Hm. That made me feel...better. I guess. Though, it's not as satisfying as actually defeating an opponent. It would take me dozens of boulders to crush, for me to actually calm down from this annoying haze of anger. It's a good thing that there are plenty of boulders around for me to smash._

 _I go up to another boulder and smash it. Then a third one I approach, I shattered into particles. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. And the sixth._

" _Urgh!" I groaned. I was wrong. This is_ _**tedious**_ _and a complete waste of my time! It's not satisfying. It's boring. It's_ _ **useless**_ _! I am a Quartz! I was made to fight! I was made to be active! Not to stand around and punch gravels of-_

" _Jazzy!" I hear from a distance. Oh great. There's only one person in the whole_ _ **galaxy**_ _who calls me that regularly, and can get away with it. I turn to see little Steven hopping down the steps, barefoot as usual. His shirt hangs sloppily off his body because it is way too big for him. Figures; he barely reaches my kneecap, he's so small._

 _He hops down the last step successfully and picks up the hem of his shirt before running towards me. I roll my eyes. You would think Greg could find him some clothes that actually fits._

 _Steven runs up to me, giant grin that shows off his missing front tooth and yells, "Jazzy! Jazzy! Jazzy!" in his small, squeaky, voice. Oh, that nickname. When he first started walking and talking, he could barely pronounce any of our names. Lapis was 'Lappy', Peridot was 'Peri' and I was 'Jazzy'. The shortened names all were similar and was fairly easy for him to remember as he was learning human linguistics. Now that he's much older than he was then, he still hangs on to these nicknames, especially_ _ **mine**_ _. He occasionally calls Lapis and Peridot by their full name, but it was fairly common that he called me by my hideous nickname. Very rarely he calls me by my official name._

 _I grit my molars together, as Steven's shrills of my name gets louder. Oh good heavens, can he just be quie-_ _ **no. No.**_ _He's only a child. I can't lose my patience with him. No, never with him. I need to calm down when I'm around him._

 _I inhale deeply, then exhale, "Yes, Steven." I tried._

 _He smiles brightly at me, it's almost blinding, "I finish watching my movie!"_

" _Yeah? How was it?" I ask._

" _Good! The bad guys lost and the good guys won, and they lived happily ever after!" he threw his hands happily in the air, "When I'm a Crystal Gem, I'mma gonna be a good guy just like you and Peri, and Lapis and the good guys on the movie!"_

 _I sit down on the floor, my knees raised but spread apart, and I rest my elbows on them. I might as well sit here and try to calm down and engage in a conversation with a toddler, "That's great kid."_

 _Steven settles down next to me, and rests his body on my leg. I hear him babble a little more about his movie and who his favorite character was. After a while, he lost interest with the conversation, and just sat quietly next to me, as we stared at the ocean._

 _This was more calming, I suppose. Better than breaking those damn rocks._

" _Hey, Jazzy?" I hear._

" _Hn?"_

" _When am I gonna be a Crystal Gem?" he asked innocently. I looked down at him and saw that his eyes were full of wonder and curiosity. Waiting for me to tell him when he'll become an official 'Crystal Gem'._

 _The skin under my eye twitches in response. The title,_ _ **Crystal Gem**_ _, was not a completely pure name to be called. The title means many things. Rebel. Freedom. Betrayal. He doesn't know the true meaning behind the Crystal Gems. How we single handedly tore a united race apart. Shattering each other. Locking our previous comrades into a bubble for the better. It was all for a cause. A cause that I once opposed to, until_ _ **she**_ _changed my mind. I close my eyes and chuckle. Rose Quartz sure did start some crazy shit with Homeworld._

" _Jazzy," Steven calls me again. I hear him sigh a bit, exasperated, "Jasper!" he groans at me. Probably upset that I haven't answered his question yet._

" _Yeah, yeah, I heard you, brat," I reply, and look back at the ocean, "You_ _ **are**_ _a Crystal Gem, you know."_

 _I glance back at him to see him shaking his head defiantly, "Nuh-uh! I don't go with you and Lappy and Peri and fight the monsters!"_

" _You can't fight the monsters yet, kid," I answer._

" _Why not?!" he whines._

" _Steven, you can barely lift the little robots, let alone beating up anyone," I point out. He pouts a little, knowing that was true, "Fighting anyone takes hard work, training and discipline."_

 _Steven looked at me with that curious face of his. His eyes open really wide, and his mouth makes a small 'o' shape, "You mean like...fight on a choo-choo train?"_

 _Oh my Gods,"Not a_ _ **train**_ _. Training. As in practicing."_

" _Oh! So practice fighting, like you?"_

" _Yes. Like me," I nod._

" _Do I… break the rocks like you?" he asks, pointing at one of the shattered pieces of what boulder was left, "To training?"_

" _To train," I correct him. If he's going to use this word, he might as well use it correctly, "And, you can't break these rocks, so don't even bother trying."_

 _His face puckers and he frowns at me, "Yes I can!"_

" _No, you can't," Well, at least right now he can't._

" _Lappy said that I can do, whatever I put my minds to!" he argues._

" _Well, good for her." I say, and I can tell he caught onto my sarcasm._

 _He stands up and stomp his tiny feet at me, "I_ _ **can**_ _do it, Jazzy! I can do it, and then I can be a Crystal Gem, too!"_

 _I snort with laughter. This kid is too determined for his own good. He reminds me of myself, "Go knock yourself out, kid. And, hey, if you succeed, I'll even throw in a treat for you."_

 _Steven's eyes grow big and little stars twinkle in them, "Really?"_

 _Well, he didn't quite register my sarcasm this time, but I'll go on ahead with it, "Sure. Break the boulder and I'll make you an official Crystal Gem."_

" _Okay!" he said far too quickly, and with a lot of excitement. He picks up the hem of his shirt and trots over to the nearest boulder he can find. It's a pretty massive hunk of rock, compared to Steven's tiny frame. Compared to myself, well, the rock comes up to my waist in height, and is as wide as Peridot's hair. He stands in front of the boulder for a while, not doing much of anything. He's sizing the rock up and checking around it. He looks back at me and waves, and says something, along the lines of him going to punch it like the characters from his movie. Oh, this ought to be good._

 _I watch him as he took in a deep breath and close his eyes. He squats down in a very dramatic pose, which I'm assuming is from that strange movie he watched. He opens his eyes and and yells out an embarrassing wail, and throws his fist into the boulder._

 _I don't know what I was expecting. And I'm not quite sure what I was witnessing. I certainly saw Steven ram his fist into the boulder, but… nothing. Not that I expected something incredible to happen, but...surely maybe some sort of reaction. He's still poised in front of the boulder with his fist connected to it. I can't see his face, so I'm not sure what's going on in that head of his._

" _Steven?" I call. I get up from the floor and stalk towards him. He literally hasn't budged an inch when I reach him, and I look over to try and see his face, "Steven?"_

 _When I finally see his face, it is the most comical expression of his I've ever seen. His face is twisted into a confused smile, yet his eyes are bulging out as if he's stubbed his toe. His face is ruby red and it looks like he's holding his breath._

 _I muffled a snort, but then I start to fully laugh aloud. I breath in pocketfuls of air and let it out in a loud cackle of laughter. Tears prick out the corner of my eyes and I fall on my rear and laugh until my chest hurts. His face! That crazy expression of his is so-weird! I physically can't handle it!_

 _As I laugh, I hear another sound. A sound that I hated hearing since Steven was an even smaller child._

 _Crying._

 _I cease laughing and I see that Steven finally moved. He was now sitting on his rear cradling his swollen, purple hand, in his normal on. Big, fat, ugly tears were dripping down his even redder face, and snot threatening to dribble down his nose._

 _Oh, shit._

 _My chest burns at the sight, and I'm not quite sure what to do. Lapis is usually the one to tend to Steven's crying spells. And if she's not here, it's usually Peridot, then Greg for an emergency. As for_ _ **me**_ … _well… Steven's better off with a pack of wild dogs to care for him than the alternative._

 _I wince at his crying. His hand is crumpled, and bruised from having contact with the boulder. The tears keep falling and I deem myself_ _ **almost**_ _utterly useless. I may not be the most nurturing, but I've seen what Lapis does when Steven hurts himself, and if I mimic her actions, maybe it will go smoothly. I frown and kneel before him and cautiously reach for his swollen hand. I move to touch it to see the extent of the damage. Before I even graze it, he flinches and moves his hands away from me; bawling and screaming even louder._

 _Oh hell._

" _Steven," I try to say, as gentle as I can, "Steven, let me see-"_

" _IT_ _ **HUURRRTS**_ _!" he hiccups in between his sobbing._

" _I know, but I need to see your hand," I try. I'm nervous as shit, but I'm trying to keep calm for the both of us, "Let me see," I reach over to palm his bruised hand, and this time he allows me. His tiny, purple, hand rests on my giant palms; not even a fraction of the size, even in its swollen state. I cradle it as gently as possible as his wailing continues. I rub my thumb on the back of his hand to receive an instinctive flinch and an even louder sob._

 _Oh no. I groan. I just_ _ **had**_ _to let him punch the damn rock. I attempt to run my thumb on his hand again, this time I feel something_ _ **move**_ _inside of it._

 _Oh. Kill. Me. It has to be_ _ **broken**_ _._

 _Steven has a broken hand. And I let it happen._

" _Fuck."_

" _Th-that's a- a-b-bad-word!" Steven chastises me, while sobbing._

 _I roll my eyes. Leave it to Steven to point the obvious, "I know-whatever. C'mon, let's fix this," I say and gently pick him up and carry him back, carefully into the Temple. Within minutes, Steven's loud crying dies down after I put a large ice pack on his hand and sit him on the kitchen counter. He was eating that cookie kitten-whatever- ice cream, that I gave him, quieting him down, crying silently._

 _I rubbed my face with my hands, thinking of what I should do. I can't leave him with a broken hand. Not only will Lapis and Peridot chew me out about it, but I could only imagine what Greg would complain about. I groan, partially annoyed and mortified._

 _Ok, what should I do? Think._

 _A human infirmary? I frown. No. Any place that requires me to be around any hysterical humans is an absolute_ _ **no**_ _. Peridot's room? … no, I wouldn't know the first thing I'd do once I step foot in_ _ **there**_ _. C'mon, think. How is this so… difficult…?_

 _I hear something slip and fall; followed by Steven's loud crying. The ice pack was on the floor. It must have fallen from his hand and caused some type of friction, because Steven's right back to crying as if someone chopped his hand off._

 _Uggh! Why can't the stupid thing just sit there while I think of something-!_

 _I hear the Crystal Gate swish open and hear an annoying, nasally voice say "What is going on in here? Why is Steven crying?!"_

 _Oh, great. Oh just_ _ **perfect**_ _._

 _Peridot rushes towards Steven and is shocked at how hard he's crying. She looks at me, narrows her eyes and says, "What did you do?"_

 _I grit my teeth, "Why do you think that I_ _ **did**_ _something?"_

" _I asked you to do one thing Jasper. To watch Steven! I come back and he's_ _ **crying**_ _. You've had to have done something!"_

" _I didn't do anything!" I yell, extremely agitated. She ignores me and faces Steven to trying to calm him down, "What happened was an accident and-"_

 _She whips her head around and glares at me, "An_ _ **accident**_ _?! What happened?!"_

" _If you would let me finish-!" I growl._

" _He's a_ _ **child**_ _, Jasper! You_ _ **do**_ _know that children need to be watched at all times in case of any accidents! Were you neglecting your duties as his guardian?" she accuses._

" _No! I_ _ **was**_ _watching him, smartass," I bark out, "We were outside and-" I try to explain._

" _WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS HAND?!" Peridot screamed, her attention at the bluish purple, crumpled hand that Steven was holding in his other._

" _It's broken-" I try._

" _BROKEN?!" She screeches, with a terrified look on her face. She stares at me in bewilderment, as if I committed murder._

" _It was an_ _ **accident**_ _. Steven wanted to prove he was strong, so he wanted to punch the boulders on the beach-"_

" _YOU LET HIM PUNCH BOULDERS-mmph!" I slapped my hand on her mouth, to cease her talking._

 _I lean in and butted heads with her and growled, "Shut. The. Hell. Up," she stopped struggling to talk and just stared at me, "Steven is_ _ **hurt**_ _. And it was an_ _ **accident**_ _. You screaming isn't helping. Either help Steven, or get the hell out, and trust me, I'm more than willing to kick your ass and throw you into the ocean."_

 _Peridot's eyed widened in response, and I continued, "I'm going to remove my hand, and so help me, if you scream, bitch or complain about anything, I am going keep my word from my earlier threat. Do you understand?" Peridot nodded quickly. I released my hand from her mouth and she instantly wiped her mouth with the back of her arm._

 _Oh, what a drama queen._

 _I roll my eyes and picked up Steven's discarded icepack. I place it gently back on his hand and hushed his crying._

" _The smartest solution is to heal it as quickly as possible," Peridot pointed out._

" _No shit, Peridot," I snap._

 _She glares at me and says, "I think we should take him to Rose's fountain."_

 _I raise a brow, "The fountain, is destroyed."_

" _Yes, but I'm sure that there is still a bit of water left to extract from the pump. Enough drops to put on Steven's hand." she says._

 _I frown. The fountain, where Rose's healing tears was completely demolished. I doubt that there is any water left over after all these years._

 _Peridot shifts to her finger screen, and says, "With your strength, you can squeeze what's left from the pump," she suggests._

" _Alright," I say. I scoop Steven up in my arms and go to the Warp Pad, with Peridot in tow. She calls her stupid robots over and they come along with us._

 _When we arrive, the fountain is even more hideous than it was a few decades ago. It's natural pink hue, is now a murky gray color, as if it was always raining. The moss and bramble around the fountain was decaying into a rusty color, due to lack of maintenance. The fountain itself was a disaster. The four sculptures of Rose were completely destroyed; shattered, in multiple pieces. The circular base, which was used to hold the water was busted with cracks and pieces of rock breaking off._

 _The main, giant sculpture of Rose, where the water actually emits from was hard to look at. The head of the sculpt was cut clean off, and two damages pumps where water fell, was revealed. The spot where Rose's gem was place was carved out and the rest of it was tattered and broken in attempts to damage and disrespect it even further._

" _Ugh," Is the only sound I can make to describe myself._

" _Jasper, if you use those pipes up there," Peridot pointed to the pipes where Rose's head used to be, "And extract what's left, there should be enough to put on Steven's hand."_

 _I nod and hand Steven (who nodded off to sleep at some point) to Peridot. I jumped up to the pipes and tried to squeeze what was left from it. With a lot of effort, I was able to get enough in the palm of my hand. I jump back down and put the healing liquid on his hand._

 _As soon as it came in contact with him, his hand was completely healed, as expected. The discomfort on Steven's sleeping face, vanished, as if nothing happened._

" _It worked," Peridot sighed, relieved._

" _Of course it did," I say. I turned to her and narrowed my eyes, "Lapis will_ _ **not**_ _be hearing about this."_

 _Her face went to that flat, dumb, mocking look she sometimes give me, "And what threat will you give me this time around? Hit me? Blackmail me? Throw me into-"_

" _I'm not bullshitting," I snap. She shuts her mouth and blinks at me, "I mean it. Don't tell Lapis_ _ **anything**_ _." I don't need her two cents into the situation. Not to mention, she would overreact even worse than Peridot did._

 _Peridot rolls her eyes, "Fine," she mutters, and says something about ordering efficient first aid kits._

 _Night came quickly, and Steven was tucked in his bed, sound asleep. Peridot was with him, scrolling through her screen, vowing to research more on first aid kits and where to purchase them._

 _I was back where it all started: on the beach. The waves swayed back and forth onto the moist sand. I walk around to where that boulder was. Where Steven broke his hand. I'll admit, it was a reckless decision to let Steven hurt himself, and it was stupid how I sat back and laughed while he was in pain._

 _My eye twitches as I land my sight directly on the boulder. This was stupid. I was stupid. Being Steven's guardian was more than enough trouble, and I add onto the mess of keeping him out of harm's way._

 _I sigh, and turn away, but...something catches my eye. I turn back around and stare at the boulder, and see something that I missed earlier. I walk over towards it, and squat next to it, to inspect the rock, further. My eyes slightly widen. There is a small fist indent, about an inch or two deep, carved into the boulder. There were spiderweb cracks spreading from it, with tiny chips of rock falling from it._

 _What the hell?_

 _I stared dumbfounded at the damaged boulder. Did...Steven… do this? If I'm being honest with myself, I didn't actually_ _ **look**_ _at the damage that Steven did earlier. I was only interested in the damage he caused to_ _ **himself**_ _._

 _I blink at the crater again, not quite sure what to make out of this. A normal human child couldn't do anything like this. So this must be a new feat from Steven! This makes sense, of course. Both Rose and I were Quartz. Quartz are one of the strongest in our race. Steven must have harnessed some of Rose's abilities, such as her physical strength. And if_ _ **that's**_ _true, that means that Steven is capable of a_ _ **lot**_ _more than just harboring the Rose Quartz. He could be able to shapeshift, bubble, summon a weapon,_ _ **heal**_ … _!_

 _I snicker to myself and look back toward the Temple._

 _Being Steven's guardian was proven a difficult task… however…_

" _Being his_ _ **mentor**_ …" _I smirk, balling my hand into a fist, "Is something I can handle."_

 **~o O o~**

"So I _did_ break the boulder!" Steven gasped, still perched on Jasper's shoulders. She walked into a narrow cavern with glowing streaks of lava, decorating the inside.

"I wouldn't use _break_ , but you _dented_ it," she shrugged, glancing around the eerily calm area.

"Lapis said I didn't have any major accidents, but I guess, it was because you didn't want her to know?" Steven concluded.

"You've had plenty of accidents _after_ that event, that Peridot and I didn't mention to Lapis. Some of those accidents were Peridot's fault." She suddenly stopped, catching slight movement from her peripherals.

Steven gasped, excitedly, thoroughly interested in his adventures of getting hurt with Jasper and Peridot, "There were more accidents? Where? Did I hit my head? Did I break my arm? How about-"

"Quiet," Jasper hushed him, glancing around the cave. Puzzled, Steven looked around to find something amiss. After a few moments, Jasper summoned her crash helmet, and crouched in a defensive pose.

Steven looked around nervously, and whispered, "Jasper, what are you-"

"Hush," she ordered, clenching her fist. She looked upwards and Steven followed her line of sight. The ceiling of the cave was rich with streaks of lava in between the crack of rocks. The streaks were weaving slightly, as a rock started slithering by itself. Now fully aware at what Jasper was so defensive about, Steven's eyes grew wide, as he saw clusters of wavering rocks, slithering along the cave. When focused, Steven could make out, what seemed to be beetle-like creatures that were the same texture and color as the rocks above, creeping around the cave. Dozens of beetle creatures were around the same height and width as Steven, and had razor sharp pincers, much like Centipeedle's, but horizontally rather than vertically.

"Uh… w-which one is the…" he gulped, "... the Earth Beetle?"

"Neither," Jasper seethed.

The added conversations agitated the corrupted rock-like beetles and they immediately turned to face Steven and Jasper. Jasper bared her teeth at the sudden change in direction and the rock-like beetles opened their pincers and omitted a giant screech in unision. The screech was so loud and painfully earsplitting, Steven had to cover his poor, sensitive ears.

The ground began to shake violently when the beetles ceased, a few seconds later. Jasper gasped, hanging onto the wall,maintaining their balance.

"What's happening?!" Steven shrieked, tightening his grip on Jasper's hair. Before Jasper could answer, the floor began to cave in like a sinkhole, before suddenly exploding, revealing, first a large pair of lava oozing pincers, the same height as Jasper. Then as it crawled out of it's hole, the creature revealed itself as a much larger version of the rock-beetles. Its face was in the shape of a beetle, while the rest of its body resembles an oversized python with one pair of insectoid limbs to help it partially crawl. It's body was so large that it could barely fit within the 20ft high cave. It crawled out with it's front two legs; the rest of its body was slithering because of the lack extra limbs. Lava slid off its body and its endless coils wrapped around itself.

"What is that?!" Steven shouted, and without warning, Jasper lunged at the monster, with Steven clinging onto her for dear life. Jasper quickly launched a punch, right on the monster's pincers, emitting a horrendous noise, similar to lightning striking a tree. The Beetle Monster stumbled back briefly, but retaliated swiftly by using the end of its elongated body to wrap Jasper in a deadly grip. Similar to a boa constrictor, the monster clenched its body around Jasper, tightly. The creature binded Jasper's limbs and all the way up to her bosom. The tight grasp around her was so firm, it nearly knocked the wind out of her. As her arms and legs were useless, she trashed around, trying to free herself.

"Jasper!" Steven yelp, still mobile and not affected by the monster's grip. Before Steven could figure out what to do to help her, the monster's beetle-like head hovered above them. It cocked its head slightly, then opened its pincers wide. The inside of its mouth glowed yellow, then orange, then brightly colored red, and orange slime started dripping down. Much to their horror, Jasper and Steven realized that the slime was _lava_ and it was going to pour right on their heads!

"Steven!" Jasper shouted, her pupils dilating in pure horror at the thought of Steven getting molten hot lava poured onto him. She couldn't do anything but watch the scene above her.

"AAH!" Steven screamed, too frightened to jump out the way. Instead, he flinched, and instinctively shut his eyes and threw his arms above his head to protect himself.

He braced for the intense, scalding, lava to melt his skin off; ending his small and fragile life.

However, nothing came.

He was in fact, still flinching, covering his arms above his head; eyes still clamped shut. Curious, of why he wasn't dead yet, Steven snapped one eye open, to observe his surroundings. Instead of the violent red and orange lava, raining over him, there was a pink dome that hovered above them.

Steven opened both eyes and realized that he had instinctively summoned a very large shield. It was around the same size as the one he used when Peridot and Jasper infiltrated Earth, and shot a cannon at the Crystal Gems. Except, this time, it didn't immediately disappear like the last. It stood in place as the lava rolled off of it, and onto the floor; safely avoiding Jasper and Steven who was still perched above her.

"Rose's shield…" Jasper whispered to herself in awe. She hadn't seen the weapon for a decade, until now.

Realizing that the lava was clearly not working, the Beetle-Snake-Monster stopped spitting out lava and decided to viciously peck at the shield instead. With heavy force slamming down on his shield, it was physically draining Steven's ability to hold it. He had only summoned this weapon a few times before, and this was only the second time he had summoned it _this_ large, and on an accident at that.

"Oh no, I-" he stopped as the insectoid monster pecked harder, "-I can't…hold it!"

"Hold on!" Jasper growled. She flexed her body pushed with all her might to break the monster's grip on her. She struggled and thrashed until there was a small enough opening for her to slip her arm out.

Jasper freed her left arm and transformed her hand into a sharp needle-like object, and roughly stabbed the monster in one of the coils that constricted her.

The monster pitched a horrendous scream of pain and instantly released Jasper from its grasp. It flailed around viciously and violently threw both Jasper and Steven on the other side of the cave.

Jasper landed on her feet, as Steven was flung a few feet away from her. He fell on his back and rolled a few feet, landing on his stomach on the heated floor. Too spent to care for the burning floor from overuseage of his powers, Steven laid on the floor, nearly unconscious.

"Steven!" Jasper called, and was instantly next to him. She picked him up from the boiling floor and cradled him in her arms. There were multiple burn marks on his palms, cheek, nose and forehead, thanks to his harsh landing.

Steven squinted open an eye and mumbled, "...oww…" and curled into Jasper's hold.

Jasper let out a shaky breath, relieved that Steven was still alive and partially well enough to speak. There was rumbling movement behind them, indicating that the monster recovered from the last attack and was ready for more. Even the smaller beetle monsters that hung above them was hissing and baiting for the larger monster to continue with the fight. Jasper glanced behind them and saw the Beetle Monster, limp slightly over to their direction.

"Shit," she cursed, and looked back at Steven's exhausted body. She grit her molars together and thought, ' _I shouldn't have ever brought him along. I should have stood my guard and kept him safe at home where he should be_ _ **resting**_ … _not following me on missions.'_ she conceded and thought of a final solution to jeep Steven out of this dangerous situation.

She stood straight up, with Steven in her arms and said, "Go home and get some rest."

She formed an orange bubble around his body, "I'll be back later, soldier." she smirked and bubbled him away, back to the safety of the Temple.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Hope you enjoyed! I promise to update sooner! I've been working on this Chapter for months. It was scrapped a few times before this final outcome.

This chapter was originally showcasing Jasper taking Steven to the hospital but it had no direction to where the story was headed. Plus I wanted to show interaction of how proud Jasper is of Steven and how she doesn't treat him like a piece of glass.

Because you all waited so long, I made this chapter approx 11k words! Wasn't that nice?

Anyway, Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Wow it's been a while! Hopefully you guys aren't too upset about waiting _this_ long. I have been really focused on school nonstop and now Summer Break will be here soon so I can finally relax :'). Thank you for your patience and your support through reviews!

 **Replies:**

 **StevenSquid -** I'm so happy you liked it :) ! Hope you like this one too!

 **Tatopotato -** Ah im glad you think so ! :) I feel that Jasper would swear a lot, considering her personality in this universe hahaah

 **XxAquamarinexX -** Thank you! I try to make each chapter pretty lengthy. At least about 5k words per chapter, because honestly 1k is not enough especially if readers are waiting so long :( . I won't really be discussing about the OTHER Steven in this fic, however I'm making a separate fic soon about how the other Steven is doing with Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl :) also I like your username :)

 **lesbo geek -** :D yes a Jasper fic for you! I'm glad you liked it and I'm so sorry it took so long :( I'm not gonna abandon this fic... i hope ahahah

* * *

 **CH 8: Fate**

"Mm…" Steven groaned, with his eyes shut and tucked in a fetal position. He tried to get comfortable, but the act was in vain. He was in _pain_. Horrible, gut wrenching pain that made him want to vomit.

His body was aching again, but it was intensified by ten fold. Not only that, but he felt burning sensations on his face, stomach, hands, back, and knees. Like he was thrown into an oven, and fell flat on his face. But his _back_ especially felt like it was in the most intense pain. It felt as if thousands of bees stung him from his lower shoulder blades, to his lower back. He didn't know _why_ , it felt like that, but oh _man_ did it _hurt._

Steven weakly raised his hand and blindly reached at his back. With eyes still clamped shut, Steven let his fingers wander to the most accessible part of pain located. When his index finger merely grazed the border where the pain started, Steven instantly hissed at the contact; flinching his hand away and grinding his teeth together. It felt like an opened wound, however, he didn't feel any blood or wetness coming from his back. It felt more like a scab that was ripped off too quickly and the flesh was exposed.

It _stung_!

Panting a little, Steven uncurled himself from his position and tried to get up. The pain was so _intense_ , he could barely stand. Steven rolled over on his stomach and squinted open his eyes. He was in a little translucent, orange, bubble, hovering above numerous of other bubbles with Gems inside of it.

Steven looked around, not quite remembering how or why he was in a bubble. Last he remembered, he was...with…

"Jasper!" He gasped, raising on his hands and knees. He was on a mission with Jasper, fighting a giant snake-like creature... and he ended up here...? He was in an orange bubble, which would make sense that Jasper most likely bubble him back to the Temple.

But was she okay? Did she need help? Should he tell Peridot to go and help her? Or was Peridot still busy? Maybe Lapis? No, she was busy too.

Steve grimaced, unsure what to do to help. He wasn't even sure how long he had been unconscious for. What should he do?

"Gotta… get help," he mumbled, striking his fist at the bubble underneath him. He needed to get out. He needed to either find some help or go help Jasper himself. She couldn't possibly handle that giant creature by herself! Especially when it can constrict and bind her for it to do its bidding! Steven struck the bubble again, hoping to pop it. As his breathing became labored, Steven stubbornly continued to strike again, and again, until the bubble gave way and combusted.

Not bracing himself for a landing, Steven fell from 10 feet, crashing into bubbled Gems and even grabbing one on the way down. Steven landed hard on his injured back, and yelled out in pain, rolling over on his side and flinching. After composing himself and a few deep breaths later, Steven rose slowly from the floor, wincing in agony.

He turned his head and was immediately faced with a blue bubble, floating innocently in front of him.

"Huh?" Steven mumbled confused. He gazed at the bubble for a few moments before concluding that he must have grabbed it on his way down from the fall. Steven closed his eyes for a moment, then lazily opened them back up, tiredly. He was so physically drained, that he couldn't will himself to get up and move. He _wanted_ to help Jasper, but he really _couldn't._ He felt like collapsing on the floor and staring at the ceiling for hours, and eventually fall asleep.

The idea was tempting; so tempting that Steven closed his eyes again and nodded off, while sitting. His body wobbled forward and his head slumped over as he drowsily went to sleep. As his head went forward, his forehead lightly butted the blue bubble, startling him awake. He momentarily forgot where he was or what he was doing. He mumbled a little, and wrenched his eyes opened, hoping he could stay awake long enough to remember.

He rested his head on the bubble, squinting his eyes and noticed something quite familiar inside. There was a circular blue shaped Gem inside, but it was cracked down the middle, nearly broken in half. Despite the crack, there was clear signification that its facet was triangular.

Steven's eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion, "...Sapphire…?" he questioned. A rush of excitement pounded in his chest. He had only met her once, but he knew who she was. He especially knew what Garnet's right hand concealed, and after the events of _his_ Jasper and Peridot, poofing her, and watching both red and blue Gems falling on the sand, he knew what Sapphire's gem looked like.

Steven inspected the bubbled gem for a few minutes longer. He used his previous memories to conclude that _this_ gem did look pretty similar to Sapphire's gem. They looked downright identical, despite the ugly crack down the middle.

If it _was_ Sapphire, why was she in a bubble? He could hardly imagine that Sapphire was a malicious, evil, Gem. In fact, his last impression of her was that she was nice and polite. Even if it were only a few minutes that he interacted with her, he knew that she was pretty harmless (despite her being a Crystal Gem and knowing him all his life).

Perhaps her being in a bubble was a mistake. Maybe she was cracked and someone bubbled her to keep her safe? And since his Mom's healing fountain was basically broken, no one could spare the time to take her to Rose herself and have her healed.

Steven wondered if he should release the bubble, just to make sure it was her. He wasn't stupid. At this point, Steven knew that even if he freed the Gem, she wouldn't know who he was. He _was_ in a different world, of course, and the chances of Sapphire knowing him were very very slim. The question still stayed.

To release, or not to release?

He could hardly weigh any bad outcomes if he _did_ release Sapphire. In fact, he could only think of the _good_ she could do once he released her. She could help him see the future of how and when he could go back home. She can help Peridot to get him back home. She can be a Crystal Gem around the Temple! What bad could come out of any of these possibilities? He would free her, then heal her, then she can help him.

Steven weakly grabbed the bubble, and squeezed it. With enough effort, he popped the blue bubble and the round Gem fell on the floor.

A minute passed, another minute...and then another. A grand total of five agonizing minutes ticked by and the Gem was still unresponsive, sitting on the floor.

What was wrong? Usually any Gem that was unbubbled would immediately reform. But Sapphire's Gem was just sitting there. Steven observed the Gem quietly, on all fours. He examined the harsh, sharp edges of the Gem where it was horribly cracked down the middle. How did she even _get_ cracked like that? Sapphire didn't appear to be the aggressive type, and Steven assumed that she wouldn't have been actively _fighting_ during the war. Did she accidentally hurt herself like Amethyst did before?

Vast questions swam through his mind, trying to figure out exactly what what wrong with Sapphire.

Steven waited and waited, and the Gem didn't look like it was going to do anything any time soon. Steven deflated, then sighed pitifully and mumbled, "C'mon, Sapphire…"

First, there was a flash of light, then a glowing pulse from the cracked Gem. Steven perked up, noting the sudden change. The damaged Gem started to slowly levitate in the air. It flashed again, but this time, the light got brighter and brighter and was shapeshifting into a form.

"AAUGH!" Sapphire screamed out in pain, as she reformed. She staggered on her wobbly legs, and eventually collapsed on the floor.

Steven watched, stunned at the sight of Sapphire. She was more or less the same, but she had a completely different outfit from before. She had a dark blue frilly tutu dress with dark blue long sleeves and a deep cut v-neck. Her legs were visible with white stockings and small flat shoes.

Her labored breathing filled the atmosphere. She gasped for air as if she had just ran a marathon nonstop.

She didn't seem to acknowledge Steven's presence. Steven wasn't sure if she was ignoring him or she really didn't notice him. Steven inched closer to her; her back still facing him. Steven reached out cautiously to gently touch her back, and he whispered, "Sapphire?"

Before Steven even actually touched her, Sapphire swiftly turned around falling on her rear. She scrambled away from him, "Wh-Who's there?!" she yelped, looking around frantically.

Steven flinched at her distress, "You can't see me?"

"L-Listen!" she ignored his question, "I am on your side! I will do whatever you say! Please! Don't hurt me!"

Steven's eyes widened, "I'm not gonna hurt you," He assured, creeping closer to her. Why would she think that she was in any danger?

He reached his hand out to touch hers. Sapphire immediately flinched at the contact, drawing her hand to her chest, and cradling it with the other, "Which side are you on?"

"Side?" Steven tilted his head to the side.

"Are you a loyalist or a... _rebel_?" she asked, whispering the word 'rebel' as if it were forbidden.

"Uh… a rebel, I think," he answered, "A Crystal Gem."

Sapphire's lips parted slightly. She swallowed a heavy lump in her throat, "I - I swear to you, I am not a part of Homeworld! Please, let me leave!"

"No one's keeping you hostage," Steven replied. Despite only her lips visible, her expression faltered, "You can do whatever you want."

Sapphire frowned, "Wh- Who- Who-" she began glitching, uncontrollably. Her body fazed from her rapid glitching and started to scoot away from Steven, recognizing her faulty glitching, "Lea-Lea-Leave…me b-be-be-"

Her glitching sped up even faster and she curled herself into a fetal position, laying her head on her knees, "I-I- will shatter-shatter-" she said defeated.

"I can help you!" Steven exclaimed scooting closer to her, "I can heal your gem!"

Steven struggled to move closer to the twitching Gem. She did not flinch at his presence, nor did she respond. Could she really not see him? Just to be sure, Steven reached for the thick bangs covering her face and brushed them aside.

This time, a flinch came from Sapphire, as her eye was revealed to him. Steven lips parted slightly. He had never seen what was under Sapphire's bangs, and he was shocked. Not because it was just a singular eyeball, no, (he figured she only had one thanks to Garnet's third eye) it was the fact that she had no iris. No pupil.

"You...really _can't_ see." He commented.

Sapphire reeled backwards, away from him, "Wh-Wh-What're you-"

"Sapphire," he grunted her name, still very much in pain, "I know you don't know me, but I think I can help you."

Sapphire hesitated. She opened her mouth, but she was interrupted by a painful looking glitch and said, "Em pleh uoy nac woh?"

Steven blinked once, "Um, sorry I

… I don't understand…"

Sapphire repeated herself, but groaned afterward, and covered her face with her hands.

"Do you want me to help you?" Steven asked, not sure if she could understand him, "You can just nod yes or no. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable…"

Sapphire removed her hands and stared blankly towards Steven's direction and tilted her head.

"If you keep your gem like that, it's only gonna get worse," he pointed out, briefly reminding himself of his own predicament, "What do ya got to lose?"

Sapphire's plumped lips parted and then slowly gave Steven a small, soft smile. She finally nodded once in consent.

Steven smiled back, even though he knew she couldn't see it, "Okay, let me see your gem."

Sapphire cautiously displayed her right palm. Steven peered at it, staring at the damaged gemstone.

"Od ot gniog ouy era tahw?"she asked quietly.

Even though Steven didn't understand her, he thought it was best to inform her, "This is going to feel a little weird, okay?"

Sapphire frowned, "Tahw?"

Steven licked his own palm, praying that this would work, then slapped the saliva onto Sapphire's gem.

Sapphire yelped, the shivered at the sudden and strange contact, not really prepared for it.

Suddenly, Sapphire's gem made a pulse, then a flicker of light. The light brightened around her Gem until finally around her whole body. She glowed a bright light, that nearly blind Steven. And as soon as it happened, it quickly vanished.

Sapphire's pupil finally appeared in her baby blue eye. She squinted, not used to the light, for being blind for so long.

Her eye darted quickly to her right palm, and examined her gem. Sure enough, her gem was completely healed. No threatening crack down the middle, no split, not even a small blemish. Sapphire brought her left hand to touch it. Her fingertips grazed the gemstone delicately, as if it were in danger from the slightest touch.

"Everything okay?" Steven asked, partially groaning in discomfort. It seemed as though his body felt even worse than before.

Sapphire's eye immediately snapped over to the mysterious person who healed her, "Yes! Thank you-" she paused. She looked at his form, identifying what species he was, "You're a human," she gasped in disbelief.

Steven nodded, "Yeah, something like that."

"How?" she asked, gesturing to her gem, "I wasn't aware humans had the ability to heal?"

"Oh, um. Well...I'm part...Gem and part human," he said and lift the hem of his shirt to reveal his gem, "I have Rose Quartz' gem."

Perplexed, Sapphire asked, "How?"

"Ah...it's...complicated," Steven waved off, "She's my mother and she passed her gem to me. Though...I guess you already kinda knew the answer to that, huh? He gave a small smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh…" Steven scratched the back of his head, "Can't you...y'know, see the future or something?"

Sapphire blinked once. Steven identified her expression as someone who was deeply puzzled, "...Yes...I can, but…".

"But…?" Steven tilted his head

Sapphire squinted her eye at him and leaned forward to inspect him, "I...I can't quite _see_ you…"

"You can't?" Steven eyebrows rose to his hairline.

Sapphire shook her head, "You are a blindspot in the complicated natures of fate."

"Oh…" Steven groaned. He kneeled over and wrapped his arms around himself. His back was still scorching in pain, "That's not good…" he said, not directly talking about Sapphire lack of future vision.

"Are you alright? Sapphire asked, moving close to him. She placed a gentle hand on his back. Steven loudly hissed out in pain and Sapphire immediately recoiled, keeping her hands to herself.

Steven was panting now, trying to keep cool, but the pain on his back was _burning_!

"M-My back really hurts…" Steven groaned. Though, that wasn't _all_ what was wrong. It felt like someone kicked around in his insides, then to top it all off, elbowed him hard in the gut. And that's not even mentioning the blistering pain on his back! He reached over his head and started to pull his tattered shirt up, hoping that would make it feel better.

He heard a small gasp from Sapphire.

"What?" Steven asked.

"I thought that your face was bad, but your back is much worse."

' _My face? What's wrong with my face?'_ He thought. Before he could ask, Sapphire was kneeling before him; her left hand hovering over his back.

"Please, try and stay still," she said. Steven complied, not really knowing what Sapphire was going to do next.

There was a sudden icy chill that touched his back. Out of natural reflex, Steven flinched and twisted his body around, facing Sapphire.

Sensing his shock and mild discomfort, Sapphire answered him before he had a chance to speak, "You have a rather large burn trailing your backside. I thought that icing it would relieve the pain."

"A burn?" Steven mumbled.

"Yes. It tore through the skin and it looks painful."

Steven closed his eyes, briefly remembering how he got the burn in the first place. After the monster that he and Jasper were facing flung them, Steven recalled landing harshly on his back and tumbling on his stomach. If his back was so extensively injured. He could only imagine what his face looked like, seeming that he fell face first on the smoldering floor.

"You think icing it would help?" Steven asks, giving her his back.

"Yes," Sapphire answered, "Though it is not perfect, this method has been proven to be quite effective."

Steven gave her his back, "Do what you think is best," he said with a small smile, "It hurts so bad, I would do anything for it to feel better."

Sapphire smiled slightly. This human was quite interesting, "I will begin the icing now," she said, pressing her palms on his back. Steven shifted uncomfortably; squirming at the small stinging sensation. Her hands felt a little cold, but after a few minutes, it became a relieving chill. Moments later Steven was sighing and leaning more into her touch.

"Does it feel better?" Sapphire asked quietly.

"Yeah," Steven smiled. Sapphire moved her hands to the middle of his back where the burns were the worst. She hadn't done this for anyone else, except for…

"May I ask for your name, human?"

"O-oh, it's Steven" he said, slightly hissing at the pain in his mid back.

"Steven," Sapphire repeated, "I would like to properly thank you for healing my gem."

"S'no prob, Bob," he gave a small grin.

Sapphire frowned at his unusual phrase, "I am Sapphire."

' _Oh boy, dejavú,'_ Steven thought, remembering he said the same thing to _his_ Lapis back home, and the idiom completely flew over her head too, "Ah, yeah, I know," he chuckled, "It's an Earth saying, don't worry about it Sapphire."

Sapphire frowned harder as she continued icing small areas on his back, "You said you knew me?"

"..yeah." Oh boy, how to explain _this_ one.

"I have acquainted with humans before, but I have never introduced myself to one, let alone a hybrid like yourself."

"Oh, yeah. I uh.. it's kinda complicated, how I know you." Steven said, focusing his vision on his toes, "I met you in another universe...or something like that… and in _that_ universe we are actually friends... _kinda_ …" he said. Well, he's only met Sapphire once before, but as Garnet said, Sapphire and Ruby apparently already loved him through her eyes.

" _Another_ universe?" Sapphire inquired, "Are you a Universe Traveler?"

"Huh? No." Steven frowned and pondered on that idea, "Is...is that real thing?" he asked.

"Is what a real thing?" asked Sapphire.

"A...Universe Traveler?" he clarified.

Sapphire pursed her lips. It took her a moment before answering, "I've... heard legends of some Gems gaining that ability, albeit, I've never _met_ one."

"Oh." Steven frowned. ' _Legends of Universe Travelers?'_ he thought, cataloging that information to ask the Gems later.

"I suppose it was fate that we would meet in two separate universes," Sapphire mused rhetorically, not sounding so sure about her statement.

Sapphire continued to soothe the last of Steven's burns on his backside. He would have been lying if he said he didn't feel any better. The ice truly helped.

Steven purred at the sensation of Sapphire's icy touch, "This feels really good," he hummed, "You said that you used this method of healing before?"

"Yes."

"Hn. It must have felt great. Who'd you try it on? Quartz soldiers or something?" Steven asked out of innocent curiosity. As his back was facing her, he missed the grim look that she made.

She hesitated for a moment then replied, "No. Not Quartz. Ruby soldiers…"

In immediate interest, Steven turned around to look at her, "You know Ruby?" he gasped. What were the odds that this Sapphire from a separate universe _knew_ Ruby.

"I...know a _lot_ of Rubies," she answered, clearly uncomfortable about something.

"There's more than one Ruby?" Steven rose his eyebrows in shock and in fascination.

"..Yes. Rubies are common soldiers, though, they aren't as strong as Quartz soldiers." she answered, "You said you only knew _one_ Ruby? From your other universe?" she asked.

"Yeah. Actually, you and Ruby were my guardian." Steven smiled.

Sapphire's iris widened in shock, "Which Ruby was she?"

Steven blinked, then scratched his chin in thought. Did Rubies look different than other Rubies? Maybe _his_ Ruby had a specific look while _other_ Rubies looked completely different. If that's the case, he should just describe her, "Well..she's about your height. She's got this... boxy looking hair. She has dark red boots and-"

"You're describing _any_ general Ruby," Sapphire stopped him, sounding annoyed.

Steven gave a sheepish look, "Oh," he stared at the floor in embarrassment, "S-sorry...it's just...I've only ever met _one_ Ruby before..."

Sapphire stared at him, then sighed, "My apologies. I shouldn't be frustrated with you, considering that you are not familiar with common Gem customs," she paused briefly, "What I meant was, what was her individual facet?"

"Facet?" Steven rose a brow.

"Her… gem placement, if you will," She clarified.

"Oh, it was," he held out his left palm, "in her left hand like this."

"That's her!" Sapphire gasped in excitement and in shock, "You say that she and I were your guardians? As in...together?"

Steven smiled, "Uh-huh."

"What an odd coincidence that Ruby and I would be together in another universe and _rebels_ at that…"she mused, looking off to the side.

Steven shrugged, "Maybe it's fate?"

Sapphire gave a light chuckle, "Perhaps you are right. Ruby has changed my fate a few times before. I believe it's because of her that I couldn't foresee the future that is now."

"What do you mean?" Steven asked.

Sapphire looked down subconsciously at her gem, "Once before Ruby was assigned to me, I knew my whole life ahead of time. My future vision allowed me to see my original fate and how I was going to live my life. After years of serving me, on a random act of impulse, Ruby came up to me and told me how she felt about me…"

"What did she say?" Steven asked curiously.

Sapphire's cheeks turned a darker shade of blue, "She… she said _many_ things. Things that made me question myself and my own feelings. Feelings I never had before," Sapphire looked down at the floor, feeling slightly flustered, "It...it was a _new_ feeling. I wasn't quite sure what it was but...I _liked_ it. I liked being around her. I liked holding her hand. I liked talking to her. I liked dancing with her. I just liked everything about her. And...before I knew it, my fate that I had always seen and was so sure of, began to fade away."

Steven smiled sweetly at her, "Did you know what the feeling was?"

Sapphire tensed and shook her head.

"It's love," Steven grinned.

Sapphire's face got hotter and bluer, "O-oh." she stammered, looking away to hide her face.

Steven laughed. He looked above him searching through the sea of bubbles above him, "Well where is she? If she's here then I can open her bubble."

Sapphire hesitated then shook her head, "She must be back on Homeworld. I wouldn't doubt that she is trying to figure out a way to escape and come find me."

"That's nice," Steven commented. If Ruby would come back, she could fuse with Sapphire and turn into Garnet! Oh to see his precious Gem again would make him leap for joy.

"And when she does, we will immediately escape this planet and travel endlessly across the galaxy" Sapphire added.

There goes that leap of joy…

"What? Why?!"

Sapphire lowered her head and looked at her gem, "She and I are fugitives. I ran away from the Royal Diamond Court alongside Ruby after our… _union_."

Steven blinked, "You mean your fusion?"

Sapphire tensed and nodded once.

Steven frowned, "I don't get it. How does fusion make you a criminal?"

"Fusion between Gems is strictly for battle only and it is only for an absolute emergency. What Ruby and I did-" Sapphire blushed, and looked away "...it was for our own satisfaction. We will most likely be shattered for our crimes and betrayal."

Anger rumbled in the pit of Steven's stomach, "So just because you two liked to fuse together, Homeworld thought you guys should be _shattered_ for it?" he spat.

Sapphire nodded. She glanced down at her hands, "What we were doing was completely unprofessional. She would seek me out when I was alone, and then we would become... _intimate…_ and eventually fuse. A Pearl found us fusing and decided to report us to Blue Diamond personally…"

"That's ridiculous!" Steven exclaimed, "You guys _love_ each other, there shouldn't be a punishment for love!"

Sapphire blushed at the word ' _love'_ again, "You… have very interesting vocabulary…"

Steven frowned, "It's not fair!"

"Well what would _you_ do?" Sapphire prompted.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Steven.

"If...if my Ruby and I were here on Earth, and you _saw_ us...and you _knew_ that we betrayed you, what would _you_ do?" she pegged.

Steven looked at her, puzzled by her question, "I wouldn't do anything."

Sapphire's iris widened in shock, "You wouldn't?" Steven shook his head and she asked, "You wouldn't give us an alternative punishment, or banish us, or-"

"Sapphire, this place isn't Homeworld. This is _Earth_. Most of us Earthlings are accepting to change. We would do anything for the ones we love, and you and Ruby are no different." He said. Sapphire could only stare, with her lips slightly parted, and he continued, "And...even though you said you guys would run away, I can promise that you and Ruby are always welcomed here on Earth."

Those words made Sapphire's breath hitch and Steven added, "It beats running away _forever_. You guys can finally call a place your 'home'."

Sapphire glanced down to her feet. She slowly looked up at Steven's abnormally colored Gem and said, "You really must be the infamous Rose Quartz."

"Huh?"

"There were rumors about the rebel, Rose Quartz. How she was cold and ruthless, yet kind and understanding. Even after shattering Pink Diamond, the rumors of her pure hearted nature were true." Sapphire smiled, "So I am grateful for your compassion."

Steven chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "Aha, I mean, I'm technically _not_ Rose but, thanks-" he paused and his eyes widened, "Wait, you said she shattered who-?"

Suddenly there was a swooshing noise above them. The door above them, the entrance to the Crystal Gate, was unceremoniously swung open. The light was bright and there were only two silhouettes, perfectly outlined at the door. Steven squinted to see the two better and he heard a shriek scream of his name.

"Steven!" Peridot's voice rang through his ears. Suddenly the second silhouette jumped down to Sapphire and Steven to reveal Lapis (and not too happy by the looks of it). She had her arms slightly raised and controlled blotches of water around her. She glared daggers straight at Sapphire.

' _With that look, this can't be good…'_ Steven panicked. Afraid of a brawl unravelling before him, Steven tried to prevent it. He stood up and defensively stood in front of Sapphire with his arms spread, "Lapis-!"

"I assume you want to capture me again,"Sapphire said, slowly backing away.

Lapis' eyes narrowed. Her voice sharper than the ice crystals forming slightly under Sapphire's feet, "I told you before, I'm not letting a single Gem from Blue Diamond's court to escape," she glared, "And that includes _you_."

Peridot finally made her way down to the floor level. She was a few feet behind Lapis and said, "Steven, come towards me!" she held out her robotic arms, motioning for him to obey.

Steven looked between all three Gems and their tense standoff. A part of him wanted to go with Peridot, while a part of him wanted to stop Lapis from doing whatever she planned to do with Sapphire. He was split between helping his family that never known him and going with his family from a different universe.

"Steven," Peridot urged, not really wanting to get in between the two blue Gems.

"Wait! Lapis, what-" Steven cried.

"She's going back in her bubble," Lapis coldly replied, narrowing her eyes at Sapphire like a predator watching their prey intently, "And this time she'll _stay_ there."

"Lapis Lazuli," Sapphire spoke, trying to hide her nervousness, "I am _not_ a part of Homeworld. I-"

"Of _course_ you're not." Lapis spat. "You're just loyal to Blue Diamond, right?"

"I am no longer," Sapphire urged, "I told you before, I have no allegiance to her! I am a deserter…"

"You said that last time," Lapis took a step forward, and Sapphire took a wary step back, "And then you almost had me _shattered_." The water that Lapis manipulated around her, grew bigger. It swirled around her threateningly, making her hair wisp behind her, "Isn't it funny what people say when they're trying to survive?"

"Lapis!" Steven tried, "Don't-!"

"Steven! Come here!" Peridot pleaded.

"Lazuli…" Sapphire trembled, "have mercy…" she begged.

"I'll say what your precious _Diamond_ said to me," the water swirled around her and formed a pair of giant hands in the shape of fists, "Mercy is for the _weak_."

"No! Lapis!" Steven yelled. He ran up to her, grabbing her waist, hoping to stop her. Lapis hesitated, and frowned at him. She opened her mouth in attempt to tell Steven to move out of the way.

As soon as Lapis glanced down, there was a blue blur that sped past her. Lapis cursed under her breath. She had forgotten about Sapphire's super speed. Lapis hurled water in the direction Sapphire was headed. It was too slow, as Sapphire dashed upwards, scaling the tubelike structures of the Boiling Room and towards the exit. The water attack instead hit Peridot right in the face, slamming her into a nearby wall.

Lapis grit her teeth, annoyed that Sapphire had gotten the best of her, ' _She did that on purpose!'_ she realized, as Sapphire ran in front of Peridot so she could accidentally hit her instead.

"Peridot!" Steven shouted, rushing to her aid. Peridot was coughing and wheezing heavily as most of the water intruded in her unsuspecting nose and mouth.

Lapis spared Peridot an apologetic glance before summoning her wings to chase after Sapphire, whom was already out the Temple, thanks to her incredible speed.

"Peridot, are you okay?" Steven asked.

Peridot shook her head, shaking the water from her flaccid hair. It only took one good look at Steven before she shrieked, "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!?"

' _Oh boy…'_ Steven thought.

* * *

 **A/N:** It took me so long to make this chapter. I had separated it into about 4 parts. I will make a better chapter next time I swear. Anyway always review :) I appreaciate all your comments! Much love! (Wow 138 Reviews and 238 Favs!? Thank you so much you guys!)


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